Q-and-A session with SportsCenter anchor John Anderson
COLUMBIA — ESPN SportsCenter anchor John Anderson graduated from the MU School of Journalism in 1987. He then worked for local TV stations in Tulsa and Phoenix before joining ESPN.
Anderson moderated the session "Technology and New Media: Reshaping the Future of Sports, Journalism and Advocacy," on Thursday as part of the school's centennial.
Q: What kind involvement do you have with the school now as an alumnus?
A: Mostly whatever they ask. One of the things I'm most proud of is that I helped set up a summer scholarship for a Missouri student every year to come and intern at ESPN. We've done that now for five or six years.
Q: What were some highlights of your time at MU?
A: I was sort of a regular old student. Some people mature at different rates professionally, and I came into my own more after I left. The things I remember most were friends I met in the J-school and in and around the university that I still get together with. Goofy things we did while we were here, and we thought we were funny.
Q: What experiences at local stations got you to the level you are today?
A: I found that the writing I did was most often different from other folks. Most people write sports pretty vanilla. I had a boss that said ‘You know what, people get tired of vanilla.'
If you can give them the same stories and give them the facts you want to deliver, but if you can do it with humor, creativity, panache, you're gonna be ahead.
Q: What's it like to be on such a popular program, and in a sense be the star?
A: I don't think any of us feels that star thing. I remember the same thing, when I first got on the air in Tulsa, there was one guy behind one camera.
When I sit in my studio in Bristol (Conn.), there's one guy behind one camera.
You don't see all of those people (watching me on TV), you see one camera. I do it (the show) like I'm sitting there talking to one guy.
Q: What's it like doing SportsCenter compared to local newscasts you did in Tulsa and Phoenix?
A: I've been the same guy on TV since I've been on TV. Most people that know me will tell you I've been the same guy since I was 6 years old.
I like sports a lot, and I was always sort of a goofy, offbeat kid, and now I'm just a goofy, offbeat adult.