We caught up with (now, former) SNY reporter, and friend of the site, Kerith Burke to talk about the UConn women’s championship run, the Olympics and global warming. These are Important Questions.
Be sure to follow Kerith on twitter for insight, analysis and more pictures of Diana Taurasi looking upset.
A Dime Back: Kerith! I can’t believe you’re actually leaving us — your adopted UConn family. Tell us a bit about your plans for the immediate future?
Kerith Burke: After I got home from covering Team USA women’s basketball at the Olympics, I moved back to the west coast! My parents are out here and so is the love of my life, so it was time. Working at SNY was a dream. Covering UConn was a dream. But something inside me said it was time to go. I’m looking for ways to continue my broadcasting career with new opportunities in California, or trying my hand at writing, which I can do from anywhere.
ADB: Last we spoke, the UConn women were about to win the the AAC Tournament. Then they went and won the whole damn thing. What are some of your takeaways from the last few weeks of the latest championship season?
KB: Rewinding my mind back to March and April, what becomes clear is how special the senior trio was: Breanna Stewart was the Player of the Year, Moriah Jefferson was the country’s best point guard, and Morgan Tuck was a contributor whose impact is hard to summarize. I don’t know what it will take for history to recognize this trio as one of the best in all of college basketball.
I remember Geno crying when he got Coach of the Year. It felt like the moment hit him, that everyone alongside him on his coaching staff and all the players who came through his program for decades were sharing in the moment. He was incredibly thankful and gracious at a time when people wanted to talk about him. He got questions about what he was thinking on the verge of a record-setting 11th championship in his career, but he deflected those questions back to team. It’s a question he wanted to wait to answer so his team could shine first.
ADB: Was the outcome ever in doubt for you?
KB: The right thing to say is no team is invincible; a loss can happen at any time. Same as an injury. But when you looked at the team, a most incredible starting five plus young players finding their game off the bench at a startling rate, it felt like UConn’s destiny was known. They earned it with the work they put in.
ADB: You’re a Final Four veteran now — give us the best and worst parts of covering them?
KB: The Final Four cities have been awesome: New Orleans, Nashville, Tampa and Indy were a lot of fun. And the reporters covering Final Fours are some of the more well-known people writing about basketball, so the stories coming out of the Final Four have a different, deeper prism. I like introducing myself to writers I enjoy. I like meeting the TV reporters from other cities. It’s a time when the collection of people feels good because we all want to be at the top of our game to do the stories justice. The teams are the top too, obviously. The players on the podium talking about their journey to reach the Final Four all have poignant things to say. It’s a good feeling in the air all around. I searched for something to nitpick about what I dislike at Final Fours and there’s nothing worthwhile to say.
ADB: What will be your enduring memories from your time covering UConn?
KB: TV reporters don’t often get a beat. We generally cover everything. So a work week a SNY looked like this: cover a hockey game, anchor at 10:30pm, anchor at midnight, cover a baseball game, then anchor at 10:30. When basketball season rolled around, I knew I would get to put my attention on one thing. UConn. It felt special to be able to invest my time with one group of players and coaches. The longer I covered UConn, the better my stories got because I knew the history of the team, how the players improved, and how to bring out the best in Geno when I interviewed him. He’s not a prickly guy once you figure him out. I get that question a lot, “what’s it like to talk to Geno?” Some people straight up ask if he’s a jerk. Absolutely not. In fact, my favorite thing about covering UConn was getting to host the Geno Auriemma show. For four years I got to sit one-on-one with a Hall of Fame basketball coach for 30-40 minutes a week and have an uninterrupted conversation with him. Do you know how rare that is? And Geno isn’t any old coach. He’s a master story-teller. He’s brutally honest. I’d have a list of questions I wanted to ask him, but he’d say something I’d HAVE to follow up on, and suddenly the conversation is in a better, unexpected direction. Hosting the Geno Auriemma show is my favorite thing I’ve done in my career, and yes, I say that after covering the Olympics.
ADB: Who was your favorite person to cover at UConn, and why?
KB: Don’t ask me this. C’mon. Impossible question.
Alright, fine. With respect to all of the players I got to see in my four years reporting on the team, Moriah Jefferson has a special place in my heart.
ADB: So — clearly having an insatiable taste for winning basketball — you went from UConn to covering the national team at the Olympics. I have a billion questions.
How did that gig materialize for you?
KB: I found out 15 days before my flight to Rio that NBC needed a women’s basketball reporter. What happened was Craig Sager was supposed to cover the USA men’s team, but he’s taking care of his health right now. I was reading this week about his third bone marrow transplant. Everything out there about Sager indicates he is a light. As he focuses on his health, Ros Gold-Unwude agreed to shift over to cover the men, leaving the women’s spot open for me.
ADB: What was it like covering the most talented group of women basketball players ever assembled?
KB: I still can’t put it into words. It was a moment in history and a moment in my career I need more time to reflect on. What was really striking is how no one overshadowed a teammate. ALL OF THEM contributed. You could see their sacrifice and selflessness for team and country.
ADB: Were you locked in on work, or did you get to experience the rest of the Games?
KB: I was in Rio for three weeks and I had two afternoons where I went to the beach and one full day with my broadcasting crew where we super tourists hitting up Christ the Redeemer, the Selaron Steps, and a food spot for delicious meats sliced right at your table. I want to go back.
ADB: Did you hold a gold medal? Are they heavy?
KB: I did not get to hold one, argh! Brittney Griner let me take a picture of hers so I could see the design. The medals are beautiful.
OK, let’s get weird with it.
ADB: Who would win in a fight, a bear or a lion?
KB: A bear. Lions tire easy. Bears are the triathletes of the animal kingdom, I say.
ADB: Do you agree with Russ that ketchup is the best hot dog topping?
KB: Since we’re getting weird with it, let me confess I am not a condiments or sauce person. No ketchup, no mustard, no mayonnaise, no nothing. I didn’t eat pizza as a kid because the tomato sauce was gross. My adult eating habits are way more normal but ketchup is one thing that….I can’t.
ADB: Who would win in a dance contest, Rebecca Lobo or Kara Wolters?
KB: Can they be partners in a swing contest in a zany movie and share the top prize?
ADB: Name one athlete you think is supremely under appreciated?
KB: John Tavares of the Islanders. If he played any other sport…or played in any other city, he’d get his due. Look up “John Tavares rule” to learn what he set into motion for exceptional young players.
ADB: How would you solve global warming?
KB: Maybe the start is getting some of our elected officials to recognize it’s a threat?
ADB: Rock, paper, scissors. What’s your move?
KB: Paper. If I sense my opponent is the indecisive type and keeps their hand in the fist shape for rock, game over!
ADB: Geno’s at 11 rings right now. How many will he get to?
KB: Oh gosh, not going to speculate on that one. I do wonder how a coach with 30+ years of excellence decides when it’s time to hang it up. When to end a chapter in your life is hard to know.
Thanks to Kerith for tolerating our weirdness and for several years of sterling UConn coverage for SNY. See more Important Questions.
