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Sports fan pursues career dream By Kathy Morgan of the Mail Tribune He's a man with a game plan. And his goal is to get into big-time sports broadcasting. But unlike lots of talented broadcasters, this guy has a good chance of making it. Brian Mitchell, at age 34, already has two Emmys for off- and on-camera productions. In 1997 and again in 1998 he won an Emmy for his work as an associate producer and reporter for "Inside Cal-Hi Sports," a show that aired on Fox Sports in Los Angeles. Back-to-back Emmys in the No. 2 TV market by the time he's 33. That's like winning two Heismans. But who's keeping score? Well, Mitchell is. "I know what I want to do," he says. "The Emmys -- being a winner -- that helps. I always keep my eye on the prize." And part of that prize package now includes local NBC affiliate KOBI Channel 5. Mitchell was hired in May to fill the position of sports director and sports anchor. "I saw tapes of his live reporting from the sideline of a football game," says news director Elliott Eki. "I thought `I like this guy' and then when I realized he had two Emmys for local sports reporting I thought: `I really like this guy.' Mitchell, a California native, came to Southern Oregon by a seemingly circuitous route. But each stop was planned out by the dapper and articulate sports fan. His whole life has been charted as if by a coach putting Xs and Os a chalkboard. His goal -- always to be a sportscaster. Mitchell earned his B.A. in mass communication at Cal State Hayward and later acquired a master's at Central Missouri State University. He interned for CNN in Chicago. And spent time as a reporter, producer, associate director and graphics coordinator at Fox. The last two years were spent at Fox Sports in Los Angeles. There he interviewed Shaquille O'Neal, talked to Kobe Bryant and chatted with Kevin Brown. The final eight months at Fox he toured with the L.A. Kings. On tour, he did sideline reporting and play-by-play. "I enjoyed that most," he says. "Everyday you'd come in and not know what was going to happen. There was a lot of pressure." The stint with the Kings only intensified his desire to become a big-time sports announcer. But the talk-jock had one strike against him. "I needed to be an anchor before the major networks would look at me," he says. So he began sending tapes out. It was time for him to play the field. And he had the right equipment. But even with his credentials, weeknight anchor positions were hard to come by. "I had three other job offers in bigger markets," he says. "But I'd only be a weekend anchor there." KOBI, however, was looking for not only an anchor but a sports director. Not a bad addition to any resume. So he signed an 18-month contract with Channel 5 and headed north. He admits it has been an adjustment. "I'm a big city boy." But Mitchell says he enjoys his new home. "In L.A. there were millions of people watching so it was a real pressure cooker," he says. "Here the market is smaller but the news is just as important." Mitchell and KOBI share the same philosophy when it comes to sports news. "It's local news first," Mitchell says. "And it has to be balanced coverage. We want to give the small schools as much airtime as the larger ones." Mitchell puts in long days editing, shooting and coordinating coverage of local athletics. Yet his 40-hours-a-week of work translates into fewer than 10 minutes a day air time. He has 3 minutes at 6 p.m., 2 at 6:30 p.m. and 3 minutes 45 seconds at the 11 p.m. broadcast. "It's a challenge," he says. "To cover everything in that short of time." An admitted perfectionist, Mitchell is honing his skills during each broadcast. "I'm never satisfied," he says. He also spends time watching Bob Costas and Al Michaels -- major leaguers who Mitchell admires. But his real hero is Howard Cosell. He started watching Cosell as a youngster. "Nobody ever had that kind of impact on sports," Mitchell says. "He was on top. He was my hero and the main reason I went into broadcasting." Mitchell goes into a respectable impersonation of the late great. "He was the greatest," Mitchell mimes. You could call Cosell the Michael Jordan of broadcasting. And that's just where Mitchell says he wants to be. For a while, the sports anchor is content to stay in the minor leagues. But he plans on getting called up to a bigger team. "I'll get an agent and with the people I know in the business I'll have a good shot at it," he says. But until he makes his move, Mitchell is committed to KOBI and Channel 5 News. "No matter where I am I want to be the best I can be. Viewers deserve that," he says. And is he doing the job? "I will do whatever I can to keep him," says Eki. "I know a winner when I see one." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA