| |  Thursday, September 20, 2001
Melissa Stark talks back
By Melissa Stark
Special to ABC Sports Online
A lot of people want to talk to Monday Night Football's Melissa Stark. Nine of you got the chance, courtesy of ABC Sports Online.
The MNF sideline reporter recently answered user questions about the upcoming NFL season, her toughest interviews and her selected footwear for games. Below are Stark's responses to users who e-mailed their questions.
|  | | The hopes of the Ravens offense lies with Elvis Grbac. |
I know that preparation is the key to success. Can you describe what the days before a Monday night game are like?
Mike Mahone -- Texarkana, Texas
Melissa Stark: It's a lot more work than people may think. On the Tuesday following a game, I start calling the teams on asking to talk to certain players that week, reading articles and everything to prepare myself. Whatever our matchup is, I watch both their games from the previous Sunday to get an idea of who and what I want to talk about during our game.
We all arrive in the city on Saturday. We watch practice, talk to the coaches and then I do on-camera interviews with a couple of the players and coaches. Then I sit down with our producer Fred Gaudelli, sideline producer Chris Pfeiffer and Eric Dickerson, and we go over our ideas for the week so we can match up any video that we may have. Usually the visiting team arrives later that night, and we do the same thing for them on Sunday.
Monday morning, we have a meeting where we look at all the video, graphics, etc. We head out to the stadium about five hours before the game starts and then take it from there.
We heard the predictions from the booth, but who do you think will play in the Super Bowl? And who is your "sleeper" team?
Bassil Mikdadi, New York
Melissa Stark: In my opinion, the AFC is the stronger conference, with Baltimore, Oakland, Denver and Tennessee. Baltimore won the Super Bowl with basically no offense last year, and the addition of Elvis Grbac will help them a great deal. His play will be under the microscope even more now, with injuries to Leon Searcy on the offensive line and to running back Jamal Lewis. With that defense, though, you can't count out the Ravens.
My sleeper team in the AFC is the Seattle Seahawks. They had the best draft, adding size up front with Steve Hutchinson and adding skill and a deep threat at wide receiver in Koren Robinson. And Ricky Watters is a threat to have a big season. They also brought in a number of big-name free agents on defense, like John Randle and Levon Kirkland, who should give that front seven a huge boost. The question mark with Seattle is whether or not Matt Hasselbeck can do the job. But he and Mike Holmgren go back to Green Bay, and Holmgren has a quarterback he believes in.
In the NFC, the Rams and the Bucs are the class of the conference. The Rams made a defensive overhaul this offseason. Head coach Mike Martz dumped the guys he felt weren't producing, with the big one being Kevin Carter. This unit held only one opponent under 20 points last season. They fired defensive coordinator Peter Giunta and brought in Lovie Smith from Tampa Bay to run the show, used six of their first eight draft picks on defensive players (with first-rounders Damione Lewis and Adam Archuleta expected to start), traded for cornerback Aeneas Williams on draft day and signed free agents Mark Fields and Kim Herring to round out the linebackers and the secondary. Martz says, though, that Williams will be the backbone of this defense.
The Bucs, on the other hand tweaked their offense. Bringing in Brad Johnson was a great move on their part. He wasn't in an ideal situation when he was in Washington. He had it hanging over his head that Redskins owner Dan Snyder didn't like him or that he possibly wanted to see Jeff George in there. George was Snyder's guy. That was no secret. In a new situation with more skill players around him, Brad Johnson should be a good fit in Tampa Bay.
San Francisco is my sleeper team in the NFC. Defensively, Dana Stubblefield is looking to return to the form he displayed in his first few seasons with the 49ers, and coaches are comparing first-round pick Andre Carter to Jevon Kearse. Garrison Hearst, while he may not be what he was, Steve Mariucci told me they are taking a "wait and see" approach, but he believes Hearst is close to his 1998 form. And Jeff Garcia, with another year of experience under his belt, is only going to get that much better.
My pick to win the Super Bowl is the St. Louis Rams over the Baltimore Ravens. If the Rams can keep Kurt Warner healthy and their defense can hold teams to around 20 points per game, they should win it all.
Who do you think will win this Monday's match up at the new Mile High?
Jeremy Radtke, Milwaukee
Melissa Stark: Denver. Brian Griese is finally healthy after offseason shoulder surgery, and they can't go wrong at running back. One of those guys -- either Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary or Mike Anderson -- has to emerge.
As far as their defense, they've brought in Ray Rhodes to run the unit, which has a strong front seven anchored by Trevor Pryce and Bill Romanowski. Their only questions are in the secondary, where they will rotate several guys in at corner, including second-year man Deltha O'Neal and this year's first-round pick, Willie Middlebrooks.
Playing at home also gives the Broncos a tremendous advantage. This stadium is going to be unreal. As opposed to the old seats at Mile High, the seats at INVESCO Field all are made of steel, which helps crowd noise. The fans are closer to the players also.
We always see you conducting interviews with talkative, sometimes interesting, players and coaches. I assume you prep a player to speak with you first, so that you are ready to go when your back-up guys in the booth turn the show back to you. How often do you have to deal with unfriendly players who refuse to speak with you on camera, or come off as being belligerent?
Graham Cruickshank, Columbia, Md.
Melissa Stark: I don't really prep a player to speak to me first. A lot of times you're grabbing a player on the run, and it's not a situation where you say, "I'm going to ask you this or that." These players are savvy enough to know how to answer, unless you ask them something completely out of the ordinary. A lot of times you don't want to tip them off, because you want to get their reactions. But sometimes you might say, "Hey, do you mind if I ask you this?"
We have tremendous access to the players. The players know they're going to be on television, on the most watched game of the week. So typically, they're not unfriendly or belligerent. For the most part, they're very accommodating.
Why do educated journalists talk with athletes right before and after an event? They rarely reveal insights about the game or their strategies. The overwhelming commentary is cliché-ridden and scripted
talk that avoids controversy or insight. Since the athletes complain that the media takes up their time why not leave them alone and save viewers from empty soundbites and silly trashtalk? On a related front, what is the most insightful nugget you've obtained from a player via an on-field interview?
Rex Coons, New York
|  | | Warren Sapp is intimidating on the field, but can be when he's off the field, as well.
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Melissa Stark: Clearly some players are better than others. But, as a fan, who doesn't want to hear from a player? For example, after the Broncos beat the Raiders last year, I asked Brian Griese about his shoulder, and he revealed for the first time that he had separated it, and took a shot at halftime. Or who didn't want to hear from Antonio Freeman after that incredible catch in overtime against the Vikings? Or from Vinny Testaverde after he engineered the comeback over the Dolphins in the longest game in Monday Night history?
I interviewed Bruce Smith after the Redskins-Rams game last year and told him it was his first three-sack game since September 1996 against the Patriots. He hadn't realized that, and was taken aback. It was great to see, and tells a lot about a player.
Sure, you do get some generic answers and you do get the clichés, but it brings the fan closer to the game.
Typically, you only get to ask the coaches one question, and they provide a quick response. Sometimes, they don't really answer the question that you've asked. Who are the more open and straightforward coaches that you've worked with?
Doug Teramura, St. Louis
Melissa Stark: Tennessee's Jeff Fisher is an honest guy. He likes to have fun. Jon Gruden is a real likeable guy also. He's so intense, which you can see by all his facial expressions when he's coaching a game. Steve Mariucci has a great sense of humor also. You need someone who's insightful, funny and willing to have fun and work with you. They are thoughtful, as well. A guy like Mariucci will think about everything he wants to say as he answers your question. Fisher and Gruden are similar in that respect.
I have two questions for you. The first is, Have you ever been intimidated by a ball player while doing an interview? If so, who? My second questions is, Do you play fantasy football?
Jimmy Franklin, Bossier City, La.
Melissa Stark: I have to laugh at this. One time, I asked Warren Sapp about being late to a meeting, and Eric Dickerson was sitting there near us, and at one point, Eric though he had to jump up and get between us. But it all worked out OK. In the end, Warren is a nice guy who knows he can be very intimidating when he wants to be.
No, I don't play fantasy football, but all my guy friends call me for insight, and last year I helped my brother, but he lost in the last game of the season. I have a lot of phone calls to return, because people want some information for this upcoming season.
I was wondering if you wear a certain shoe for turf games and a different shoe for grass games?
John Dehmer, Maui, Hawaii
Melissa Stark: (laughing) That is funny. My "game" doesn't necessarily hinge on the kind of shoes I wear. What I care about is that my shoes are comfortable, because I have to do a lot of running from sideline to sideline, and I'm on my feet for five hours. And when you're in places like Green Bay or New England, all you care about is that they're warm. For the games in Denver, New England, and the last game in Nashville, I had warmers in my boots. Not the most fashionable things in the world, but they work.
I understand you minored in Spanish at Virginia? How fluent are you?
Michael Garcia, Chicago
Melissa Stark: Actually, I double-majored in Spanish and Foreign Affairs. But I haven't been able to use it that much. After I graduated college, I moved to Italy, and a lot of it turned to Italian because they're so similar.
When we were in Mexico City, the whole crew, Al, Dennis and Dan, were all relying on me to have communications with the drivers. A bunch of the people who lived in Mexico City wouldn't let us into the stadium, and everyone's saying, "Melissa, get out and talk to them. You know how to speak Spanish." There was some sort of misunderstanding outside the stadium, and we were out there for 45 minutes or so, just waiting to get in. I felt like I let the team down.
So, I'm embarrassed to say I'm not very fluent at all.
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