Megan Mawicke's bio is incomplete. The communications departmentat Fox Sports Chicago that churns out puffy material on Jim Rome,Keith Olbermann, Tom Waddle, Hawk and D.J. needs to update the storyof its latest hire.
OK, the 27-year-old grew up in Kenilworth, attended IndianaUniversity and received a master's degree at Northwestern's MedillSchool of Broadcasting. She once interned for Mark Giangreco at WMAQ-Channel 5 and worked in Green Bay, Wis.
But let's fill in the blanks:
She participated in her first tennis tournament at age 7. Byaccident, her mother entered her in a 12-and-under event. Withouttaking a lesson, she won and earned a national ranking.
She was a tomboy who played baseball and basketball with boys ineighth grade. At the time, she sported the only ponytail.
She began subscribing to Sports Illustrated when she was 13. Shewaited by the door for the mail carrier to deliver it. How many girlscan say that?
She was a tennis star at New Trier. In doubles competition, shefinished second in the 1988 state tournament and won statechampionships in 1989 and 1990. And she did it with three differentpartners.
As a scholarship athlete at Indiana, she beat Dick Vitale'sdaughter in a match against Notre Dame to earn a trip to the NCAAfinals.
She played on the pro tennis tour for six summers before realizingthat the life wasn't for her. She wasn't good enough to play atWimbledon, didn't want to be ranked among the top 900 players in theworld and was discouraged by others who struggled to earn enoughprize money to fly to the next tournament.
In Green Bay, the 69th-largest television market in the country,she arrived a year after two Super Bowls and discovered that theseven-day deer-hunting season was a bigger story than the Packers.But her most memorable experience was spending three days on an icefishing story.
Now she is back in Chicago as a reporter; anchor for Fox's twolocal productions, Chicago Sports Tonight and Regional Sports Report.And her new assignment isn't unlike playing tennis, learning to workwith different partners and having her game face on for every(camera) shot.
'My parents finally repainted my bedroom, took down my plaques andtrophies and stored them in the attic,' she said. 'I'm 15 minutesaway from a home-cooked meal, cookies and other sweets. And I'm astuffed pizza freak. One thing I learned is Chicago is the only placethat makes good pizza.'
It also is a terrific town for sports media. Mawicke relishes thethought of having 30 minutes to do stories instead of 30 seconds,covering high school, college and pro sports, working 14-hour days,writing her own scripts and driving to Platteville. She only recentlyhad time to pick up a tennis racket.
She is in the communications business, and the name of the game istalk, talk, talk. She works with different partners-Eric Goodman orDamon Andrews or Dave Otto or Gail Fischer or Mitch Robinson-andfills in on San Francisco and Ohio shows that aren't seen in Chicago.
'No matter who you are working with, in tennis or in the studio oron the field, you still have to perform,' she said. 'You have to beon the same page with your partner.
'In tennis, you have half a court. But if you get mixed up in themiddle, you have to know who will take the ball or you'll step allover each other. If you don't communicate, you're lost.
'In broadcasting, there are no retakes when you're live. You aread-libbing off the cuff. It is in your head. If you make a mistake,you have to recover, make the sentence smooth and get your pointacross.'
Being a self-described 'sports junkie' prepared her well for hercareer. She can relate to athletes. She understands about pressureand pregame butterflies. She understands when they want to be leftalone, when not to bother them. She has been there, done that.
'You have to remember it isn't hard-core news, it's a game,' shesaid. 'I'm very fortunate to be able to combine something I have doneall my life with a career. For 16 years, my bags were packed totravel to play tennis. Now I'm back home at 27 and doing something Ilove. This can be the greatest time for a female reporter.'
