Introducing Jasmine Marcus

Although it’s a little embarrassing to admit now, I didn’t always follow sports as closely as I do today. Aside from watching tennis and the occasional marathon (as a runner, I actually find it interesting to watch others run), I didn’t pay much attention to the sports world around me. As a freshman at Cornell University and staff writer for The Cornell Daily Sun, I didn’t even read the sports section.

Except on Thursdays.

At the suggestion of my friend Veronica, I became an avid reader of a funny column called 10 Questions. Once a week, a sports editor would sit down with one of the many hundreds of student athletes and ask them questions about life off the field/court/ice/etc. Although wildly popular, the column was discontinued sometime around my sophomore year due to miscommunications with the athletics department.

By this time, I was an editor on The Sun and one of my favorite pastimes in between putting out pages was to ask the Sports Editor to reinstate it. Finally, last fall, Keenan told me, “If you want it back so badly, do it yourself.”

His words stunned me because even though I had been writing a bit for sports by that time, I had never considered myself someone eligible to take over this revered column. I realized right away, however, that there was no one else to take on the role. I studied up, reading former columns and quizzing former interviewers to learn the tricks of the trade. The best piece of advice I got was to treat the sometimes-awkward give-and-take of the interview as a first date.

In November, I secured my first interview with men’s basketball player Chris Wroblewski, mining his friends and his Facebook page for juicy tidbits, such as his nickname “Little Boy.” All was smooth-sailing until I accidentally deleted the interview recording and had to redo the whole thing.

Eventually, however, I learned to use a tape recorder and got into a good groove. Although my writing background trends heavily towards news, 10 Questions became one of my favorite journalistic endeavors. While I’ve interviewed hundreds of people, it gave me a unique way of getting to know some very passionate and quirky people.

Which brings me to the present.

After spending the second half of my senior year in high school in Israel, I am making good on my promise to live in the country for a while after college. At Israel Sports Radio, I will be hosting my very own show, where among other things, I will bring an updated form of 10 Questions to the radio. Think of it as 10 Questions The Remix.

While not on air, I will use this blog to share whatever other random thoughts I have about the sporting world, to which — thanks in part to my alma mater’s recent basketball success — I am paying way more attention.

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