My Sports Hero: Mike Plante by Geofree Capodanno

In the spring of 1998, I accepted an internship at Central Florida News 13 (CFN- 13), an all-news channel that runs 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. I remember sitting at the assignment desk of CFN-13 on the second day of my internship, being completely bored. I took the internship because I wanted to learn how to be a sports producer for a news organization, but I was told on my first day that I had to wait two months before I could do so. That was not going to stop me from pursuing my goal as soon as I got an opportunity.

So, on that same day, I walked into the sports department and introduced myself to the one-man sports crew of the day, Mike Plante. I told him my reasons for taking the internship and asked him if I could sit in and help out. He seemed taken back by the question at first before agreeing to let me join him. He told me about the last few interns that he had in the department before and how they really weren’t there to learn. They didn’t want to do anything but “hang around”. I told him that I was going to show him that I was different.

By the end of that day, I had cut two highlights and wrote a tease script for the evening sportscast due to a lot of encouragement and tutelage that Mike provided. Before we left for the evening, he asked me if I felt like I was doing his job for him or not. I let him know that is why I chose this internship over the local network affiliates. I had learned from other students that the CFN-13 sports department was understaffed and needed interns. I didn’t want to sit around and just watch everything. Instead, I wanted to receive hands-on experience and use this internship to gain as much knowledge as possible about what it takes to be a sports producer. Mike told me that if I was willing, he would teach me every aspect about doing every job function critical to running a sports department. After I accepted, he told me that he had never had an intern do what I did on my first day in his department and he was going to tell the news director that I was to be the new sports intern effective immediately. At the time, I didn’t realize that this person would have a great effect on my life both professionally and personally.

By the second month I was there, Mike was sending me with a camera and the keys to a CFN-13 company vehicle to go shoot footage and conduct interviews. This would allow him to go out and do the same for other events so that we could double the original footage for our sportscasts. A lot of the employees and even the sports teams that we covered thought that I was an employee for CFN-13 and not an intern.

If there was someone related to sports that I would say was an influence and inspiration on my career and life in general, it would be Mike Plante. He went above and beyond his job duties, stayed late, and came in early to help me do mock interviews and stand-ups, and even shared personal insight to the politics associated when working in the television business. He didn’t want me to be naive when it was my turn to enter the workplace and be as he called it “green”. He explained the importance of networking and paying one’s dues to the business. Most of all, he wanted me to have fun while I learned.

With that in mind, he surprised me with a press pass knowing that I was a Philadelphia sports fan to go watch the Phillies play the Devil Rays at Tropicana Field. He told me to take a CFN-13 car down and just relax and watch the game. He told me that Curt Schilling was pitching so to go have fun and he’d take care of the sportscast that day. Another time, he did the same thing when the Sixers came into Orlando to play the Magic.

By the time I graduated from college and finished my internship, I had learned all of the job aspects including shooting and conducting in-person interviews with sports personalities, shooting live game highlights, producing sportscasts and sports news packages, and dealing with media relation personnel to obtain press credentials for any events. Also, Mike became not only a mentor to me but a big brother and friend. In the end, I did what I said that I wanted to do and he delivered what he had promised, to teach me everything about running a sports department.

From talking to other students at school, no other sports department really took the time to teach them anything and give them an opportunity like I received. I am generally a humble person, but I have to say that the resume tape that Mike helped me assemble throughout our adventures at CFN-13 was pretty impressive. Unfortunately, the news director did not feel that they wanted to raise the station’s budget and expand the sports department. Mike spend several days in conference with management trying to convince them that expansion was needed and that I was the one they needed to hire. When he tried to explain to the news director about the results that I had proven time and time again, it was all for naught and they decided that expansion was out of the question. I had to look elsewhere for work and my resume tape helped me receive an editor position at the CBS affiliate WKMG-TV NewsCenter 6 in Orlando.

A year later, Mike won a local Emmy for a story he did on a blind golfer. When he achieved this accomplishment, he moved to South Florida and fulfilled his dream of owing his own production company. He presently continues to expand his company as the years go by.

Mike Plante is always just a phone call away whenever I need career advice or any assistance in my personal life. He was happy that I went back to continue my education at Drexel University because he knew that was going after my dream, like he had done a few years back. He told me that he knew I would be successful in my quest because he knows my level of my determination. Mike’s mentoring during my internship and his constant support is the reason why I would say that he has and continues to be an inspiration in my life. I would say that he is my “sports hero”.