Resume

Kayla Marie Anderson

Sports Anchor/Reporter

andersonkayla77@gmail.com

Education

BA in Liberal Arts- Edward R. Murrow School of Communication May 2005
Washington State University
Major in Broadcast/News
Minor in Sports Management

Work History

Sports Director August 2009-Present
KECI/KCFW/KTVM- NBC 12 Missoula, MT

· In charge of producing and anchoring weekday shows for Missoula and Bozeman

· Report from LIVE sporting events (UofM Football, Minor League Baseball, HS Football)
· Responsible for organization and delegation of sports department
· Beat Reporter for Montana Grizzlies Football & Basketball

Sports Reporter April 2008 – Dec. 2009
KXLY- ABC 4, Spokane, WA
· Covered LIVE events for the AF2, WSU, UW, Seattle Mariners and Seahawks
· Co-Anchored Friday Night Sports Extra- Highlighting local high school football
· Produced weekday and weekend sportscasts
· In charge of weekly Shining Star Reports- Highlighting top student athletes in the area

Sports Anchor/ Reporter/ Photojournalist March 2006 – March 2008
WAKA- CBS 8, Montgomery, AL
· Anchor weekend sports/fill-in during the week
· Producer of weekday and weekend shows
· Producer/Anchor of 15 minute “Sports Saturday”
· Live shot experience
· Edit and shoot all sports
· Received AP Award for “Best Sports Story”
· Work with big name colleges such as Alabama and Auburn
· Experience with covering high school sports, Minor League Baseball, and others
· Covered Talladega NASCAR races in April and October

Sports/ News Reporter/ Photojournalist May 2005 – February 2006
KTVZ-21, Bend, OR
· Anchor/ Reporter for high school highlights show
· Reporter for weekly segment called “The Sporting Life”
· Experience in news live shots
· Experience producing and reporting news during the weekend

Kayla Anderson Resume

Kayla Marie Anderson

Sports Anchor/Reporter

andersonkayla77@gmail.com

Education

BA in Liberal Arts- Edward R. Murrow School of Communication May 2005
Washington State University
Major in Broadcast/News
Minor in Sports Management

Work History
Sports Director August 2009-Present
KECI/KCFW/KTVM- NBC 12 Missoula, MT

· In charge of producing and anchoring weekday shows for Missoula and Bozeman

· Report from LIVE sporting events (UofM Football, Minor League Baseball, HS Football)
· Responsible for organization and delegation of sports department
· Beat Reporter for Montana Grizzlies Football & Basketball

Sports Reporter April 2008 – Dec. 2009
KXLY- ABC 4, Spokane, WA
· Covered LIVE events for the AF2, WSU, UW, Seattle Mariners and Seahawks
· Co-Anchored Friday Night Sports Extra- Highlighting local high school football
· Produced weekday and weekend sportscasts
· In charge of weekly Shining Star Reports- Highlighting top student athletes in the area

Sports Anchor/ Reporter/ Photojournalist March 2006 – March 2008
WAKA- CBS 8, Montgomery, AL
· Anchor weekend sports/fill-in during the week
· Producer of weekday and weekend shows
· Producer/Anchor of 15 minute “Sports Saturday”
· Live shot experience
· Edit and shoot all sports
· Received AP Award for “Best Sports Story”
· Work with big name colleges such as Alabama and Auburn
· Experience with covering high school sports, Minor League Baseball, and others
· Covered Talladega NASCAR races in April and October

Sports/ News Reporter/ Photojournalist May 2005 – February 2006
KTVZ-21, Bend, OR
· Anchor/ Reporter for high school highlights show
· Reporter for weekly segment called “The Sporting Life”
· Experience in news live shots
· Experience producing and reporting news during the weekend

Baseball Player Overcomes Odds

This past Spring, I had the pleasure of doing a story on a great kid, who has overcome Epilepsy and continued his dream of playing baseball.

Enjoy!

Trying New Things, Challenging Others to Do the Same

There's nothing wrong with challenging yourself mentally and physically in life, today I found a way to do that.

I'm starting to work on a four week series for May sweeps at my station.

It's called "Shape up for Summer," and it involves four totally different exercises for people to try who want to be able to slip on a swimsuit and feel good about it.

The first segment that will run is on Bikram Yoga or what people call "Hot Yoga."

Yes, I had tried this before at my first job back in Bend, OR but I didn't get a chance to do all the poses because I had to shoot the whole thing myself.

But thanks to my awesome helper, Vince (my camera guy), I was able to take my first 90 minute class this afternoon in Downtown Missoula.

I consider myself pretty athletic, but when I required to do 26 poses in a room that was 105 degrees, I definitely felt out of my element, and that is a good thing!

There were plenty of times today during the class where my mind was telling me you can't do it just give up, but I knew my body had something more to give, that's the beauty of this type of yoga, you challenge the body and mind together.

One thing that I have learned the last six years of my life is never give up on anything, I haven't done that with my career and I think that carries over to other parts of my life as well.

After class I interviewed several people who I took the class with, some had been doing it for just a couple months others for years.

Some of them were young, some a little older, there was even a tough little 10 year old boy who impressed me with his strength!

At the end of my time at the studio today, I had to shoot a stand up talking about my experience and how I felt after it all...so with my sweaty hair matted to my face, not touching up one part of my face I expressed exactly what I felt...and somewhere in there I found myself saying I was coming back to challenge my mind and body again, so that's exactly what I'm going to do!

Bikram Yoga, a new addition to the lists of challenges in my life...what's yours?

Opening Week- The Good & Bad in Baseball

Baseball is back, and that's a good thing but not everything about opening week was peaches & cream.

We had some ultimate highs and some definite lows.

Let's start with off with some of the disappointments-

Mark Texeria batting average a pathetic .000 (no you're not reading this wrong), you're a Yankee, you get paid mucho dollars, do something about it!

The Mariners, in which every year I hope and pray they will be the club they should be, but only taking one out of four games against the Oakland A's, come on now you have talent, use it and swing the bat!

Poor Houston, the never fail to disappoint, starting off the season 0-3 after the Giants completely shut down their offense (the Astros didn't even score until the 9th inning on Monday).

That brings me to the good news-

Speaking of the Giants, they went 3-0 in their opening series thanks to solid pitching by Tim Lincecum, who threw seven scoreless innings Monday, and Barry Zito who tossed six more on Tuesday.

Atlanta's got a gem in rookie Jason Heyward, who by the way looks 30 not 20 year old. This kid's got drive, smarts, and talent that even Hank Aaron acknowledges, look for him to do some big things this year.

The Oakland A's got off to a good start, and one player who really impressed me center fielder Rajai Davis he's off to a good start batting .316 with a home run, a couple steals, and a downright nasty rob out in center against Milton Bradley on Thursday.

And if you had Vernon Wells on your Fantasy Roster this week you're were happy, the Blue Jay hit four home runs in four games, breaking Toronto's record for homers in opening week.

A hat nod goes out to the Pirates, who never get any love, not too bad of a start (but that might not last that long).

That's all she wrote for now, and if you even think I was going to give any credit to the men in pin stripes, that wil never happen!

Basketball, Busted Brackets, and Butler

I have only been on this earth for 26 years, but that had to have been the best Men's NCAA Tournament I've ever witnessed!

First of all I'm a HUGE college basketball fan and I'm an even bigger fan when it comes time for March Madness.

It was an interesting year for the game, yes we had those dominate teams like Kansas, Syracuse, and Duke but what we should have all been thinking is "Really are any of these teams as good as the media says they are?"

Like many of you, I thought my bracket would be solid this year, I mean how could you go wrong with Kansas and Syracuse as two of the teams in the final four, and more so how could you go wrong with Kansas in the Championship game.

DEAD WRONG, that's how wrong most of us were!

The first round of the tourney was full of good upsets, you had Cornell, Old Dominion, St. Mary's, Murray State, and UNI...out of those five I only had St. Mary's and Cornell moving on, my bracket after day one, good but not close to being great.

Round 2...who knew?

Kansas went down to UNI by two...all I remember thinking during the game is "Oh no there goes my bracket!"

St. Mary's, a team that made the Zags look weak in the WCC title game, was the other big upset in round two when they beat Villanova convincingly, another one bites the dust.

After that I decided two things, one-I'm no longer even checking my standings in the bracket pools and two-this is a d**n good tourney!

We all know the story lines from there on out...Cornell the Cinderella finally lost it's slipper, Kentucky's youth proved to be a weakness, and Butler (I didn't even know where they were located) was paving a path to the Championship game and making history all at once.

As much as I dislike Duke (along with the rest of the country), I still knew putting them in the Championship game was the smart thing to do, and sure enough they beat WV (my other Final Four team), to advance into the title game.

But who thought Butler would really make it all the way...I sure didn't, but I'm glad they did.

That was a match up that was so unlikely but so intriguing...and even though Duke came out with the win, in my opinion Butler didn't lose much.

They've gained the respect of the nation and they've now become the new "America's Team."

Back on Blog Duty-Montana so Far...

It's been awhile since I've taken the time to right down all my thoughts, but I was just thinking the other day that it's about time!

Here's the deal, so far I've had a wonderful time covering sports in Montana.

I arrived here last August after getting married and since then there's been lots of sports news to report on.

Here's the recap:

The Osprey finished their season one game short of a division title, Montana's football team went to the FCS National Championship after some incredible playoff games, Griz Coach Bobby Hauck left UM after 7 seasons, we hired new coach Robin Pflugrad, Montana's basketball team finished their season with a Big Sky Title and a ride to the dance, and former Big Sky grad Josyln Tinkle and Stanford played UConn in the Women's NCAA Championship.

So you're wondering, "What's this crazy girl's point?"

Yes, I'm in Montana and not many people think there is much up here, but for those of you who have never been to the Treasure State, people DO take tons of pride in their teams up here and that's what makes things so exciting.

I don't know if it's been luck thus far in my sports broadcasting career, but everywhere I've been I've managed to come at the right time because dang have I been blessed with what I've been able to cover in my six years in the business.

For now the focus is on "Spring in Montana."

It's a slow time for sports right now, but my brain has already been hard at work coming up with new ideas and stories to keep things busy and fun.

I will keep you all updated on my projects for the next couple months...stay tuned!

Jamychal Green, At the Next Level

Wow...It's been awhile since I've had time to sit down and right on my blog, actually I don't have much time, I'm on my sixth straight day of work and had some downtime between shows.

While I was sitting at my desk, scrolling across the sports scores, I happened to come across a name that was very familiar to me.

The headline- "Jamychal Green scores 22 points for the Tide in their 79-76 win over Baylor."

Jamychal Green, he is a sophomore forward on Alabama's basketball team, but I first met this superstar (and he will be in the NBA) when he was just a Junior at St. Jude high school, in Montgomery, AL.

First of all, Bama is not a state that pays much attention to basketball, football is what they worship, but this little school was all about the hoops, especially with Jamychal being their star player.

I remember my first time shooting a game at St. Jude, the highlights, all Jamychal, all dunks.

The kid, who's about 6"9 was unbelievable and he was only 17 years old, I knew from that moment he was going to do big things with his basketball career.

It wasn't until his senior year that I actully got to sit down with Jamychal to talk with him one on one.

I expected him to maybe be a little cocky...oh but that wasn't the case at all.

This big kid with all this amazing talent was quiet and very humble, and to this day I will remember that interview, that story on Jamychal Green, an upcoming basketball star...watch out for him!

Cliff Lee Can Deal!

Ok, so I wasn't that excited about this year's World Series.

You ask why?

Well for the simple fact that they're both East Coast teams.

I'm from the West Coast, and I would've liked having the Angels or Dodgers in it to mix things up a little.

However, if you ask me to pick a team to root for in the World Series, I don't even have to think about it, definitely the Phillies.

I strongly dislike the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez, and the whole Steinbrenner family.

I've never been a fan of a team who thinks they can buy championships, sorry call me old fashion, but I think it's more exciting to see a team that has to work their tail off to get to the top.

So getting to Game 1, and the remarkable showing of Cliff Lee on the mound, if you didn't see the game, Lee shook up the Yankees at the plate with a spiked curveball, deceptive changeup and his nasty fastball, pitching a six-hitter while striking out 10 without a walk.

Lee is the first starting pitcher in the World Series to have 10 K's, no walks, and no earned.

He struck out the red hot A-Rod three times, and led the Phillies to a 6-1 win over the pesky Yankees.

I have to give some props to Chase Utley too (my husband's favorite player), as he helped the offense out with two home runs.

Yankees you better watch out because if the Phils are this comfortable beating you in your billion dollar stadium they're going to be feelin' real good at home.

I pick the Phillies in Six.

Caught In The Middle

It's been great so far covering the Montana Grizzlies here in Missoula, MT.

They're the talk of the town, and even after covering SEC football in the South for two years, I have to admit, I'm impressed with this program.

So far there hasn't been a question of who I should cheer for on Saturday's in the state of Montana, with the obvious choice being the Griz.

But now six weeks into the season, I run into one small little problem...Do I want Montana or Eastern Washington to win?

You're probably thinking, duh, pick the team you cover now, I mean gosh you report on them, shouldn't you want them to win?

Ya, of course, but there's still a part of me that wants the Eags to win because I did cover them while I was in Spokane, I'm from that area, and of course my brother goes to school there.

But more than anything, I think it's the plain fact that they're the underdog in this match up and after wanting to win SO bad last year, they got stomped on their own home turf (sad day).

After that whole pity party, I have to keep it real.

So to my brother and dad, there will defiantly be a little part of me that will cheer on those Eagles come Saturday, but sorry I'm in Montana now, and you'd have to be crazy not to root for the Griz!

Giving Credit to the Cincinnati Bengals

As big of a sports fan as I am, it wasn't until a couple years ago that I really started to enjoy following the NFL.

Maybe it was because I was still too young to feel connected with pro sports or maybe the NFL was just too hyped up for me at the time.

But it's a different story today, although I've not yet worked in a city yet with an NFL team (that will come soon), I have become a big fan of several players that I covered in college and their teams.

However there is one team that I have no connection with, but yet I find myself cheering for them on Sundays.

No, I don't even have one Cincinnati player on my fantasy league team (Child Please), but after watching the HBO series "Hard Knocks" this past summer, I have a new found respect for Coach Marvin Lewis, Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson and the whole Bengals squad.

If you have never seen this show, I highly recommend you watch it next season.

To give you a brief description of the show; camera crews basically follow one NFL team during the preseason as they gear up for regular season play.

They take you behind the scenes and show you a candid look at the real life of players and coaches in the NFL.

This was my first time watching it this season (HBO is new for me) and it instantly became my favorite show on televison.

What made it really special was the story of the struggling Bengals.

I have always been a big cheerleader for the underdogs in sports, and this was a perfect team to fit that profile.

It wasn't until this show that I actually liked Chad Johnson, but after seeing how hard of a worker he is and how much he gives back to the community, I now am a big fan of #85!

We're now five weeks into the season, and the story to me is the recent success of the Bengals.

Yesterday they never gave up in a fight against the Baltimore Ravens, and maybe it was because they were fighting to win for their Defensive Coach Mike Zimmer (lost his wife suddenly this week), but whatever it was I couldn't help but feeling good for a team that has worked their tails off to get to where they are right now.

I know I can't say I'm a TRUE fan, but I defiantly give the Bengals respect and wish them the best of luck this season.

Snow Already!

OK, so I was spoiled for a couple years when I lived down South.

And no it wasn't because of all the friendly people, good BBQ, or SEC football, it was because there was no such thing as covering football in the snow!

I'm not saying that the South didn't have its share of unbearable weather because come summertime in Alabama it would be 90+ degrees...all humidity, and with a big camera on shoulder, that isn't always fun!

But as crazy as I am, I'd rather be it that type of weather than in the freezing dang cold.

I realized when I woke up this morning in Missoula, MT (with snow on the ground) that I was going to have to do a lot more layering this evening when I go out to shoot high school football.

The last time I really remember covering football in the snow was at my first job in Bend, OR and dang did it get cold there!

I don't know if it was because it was my first job and I hadn't gotten a reality check quite yet, but I can remember one night wearing little busniess shoes with no socks while shooting a game in the snow, and I think it took me two days to get my feet warm again.

Since then I've improved my cold weather wardrobe which includes the necessities:

-long johns (under armour preferably)
-stocking cap
-North Face Shell
-North Face Jacket
-Big Ole' Socks (No wool, it's ichy)
-Gloves (not too bulky, still have to be able to shoot video)
-Hand warmers (to put in the pockets)
-Uggs (none of this jeans tucked into them business)
-A lot of warm stuff to drink (I perfer hot chocolate)

And I guess as long as I have everything on that list, it's not HORRIBLE covering football in the snow, as it can sometimes make for a fun atmosphere...I just didn't think it would be this early on in the season!

Cheers here's to being a Montana now!

Two Great Games in Minnesota...Don't Ya Know

If you're not a sports fan, you won't understand this blog at all, especially because it has to do with sports in the state of Minnesota (no offence to any of my friends or relatives there).

But for real, if you aren't a fan of any of the teams there, usually people on the east and west coasts aren't too interested in the Twins, The Wild, the Gophers, and not until recently, the Vikings (thanks in part to the already twice or third retired Brett Farve).

Oh, but if you're any type of sports fan you can't help but pay attention to the all hype in the past two days!

It all started on Monday night, where if it wasn't THE MOST watched Monday Night Football game, it was pretty dang close; the Vikings and Brett Farve hosted the Green Bay Packers.

As much as I'm sick of Brett Farve, this game still was very appealing to me.

Maybe because I wanted the underdog QB Aaron Rogers to prevail, and embarrass Farve and the Vikings, but that didn't happen at all.

Instead, Frave impressed everyone on national TV again, and now I have to now admit to myself that he still might have some fight left in him at the age of 40 (note: I will never admit that again).

Moving on then to Tuesday night, where the Minnesota Twins were fighting Detroit for the AL Central title.

Although I was mad because I couldn't watch it, I stayed updated between ESPN and the MLB Network.

Talk about a way to win the AL title for the Twins, and talk about a crappy way to lose it for the Tigers, as Alexi Casilla singled home the winning run with one out in the 12th inning lifting the Twins to the 6-5 victory.

But as glorious of a win it was, reality soon hit the Twins, as they had to pack up and head for New York in the same night, to play the most annoying team in baseball the Yankees.

As much as I want the Twins to beat the Yankees, I have a feeling it could get plain ugly.

But no matter what happens Minnesota fans, just remember this great week of sports, as it may not happen again for awhile (:

Congrats to the Vandals, Especially Coach Akey

I remember my freshman year at WSU, the only year I actully got to sit in the stands and watch a Coug football game (I worked for athletics the rest of my time there).

There was a group of us Pi Phis who would sit in the first row right behind defensive coach Rob Akey.

No matter what was happening on the field, I really didn't care, I just got a kick out of watching Coach Akey fire up his defense on the sideline.

He would jump up and down...yell at the top of his lungs (in a good way), and it worked because our defense was freakin' awesome!

As we all know, WSU lost Akey to our friends down in Idaho, where Akey has been, and is still the head coach of the Vandals.

Now talk about a program that looked as if they had little to no hope!

But after covering them last year and talking with Coach Akey every week and after every game, I could just see how much this team meant to him, and I truly believed that he would get them back on track.

This year the Vandals are off to a 4-1 start after beating Colorado State 31-29 last night in the Kibbie Dome.

Today at work, I came across the celebration video from last night, and I have never seen the Dome so packed, with so many happy fans.

Congrats to you Coach Akey, you are a coach that truly loves his players, and I wish Idaho the best of luck the rest of the season!

Brees=A Fantasy Win

If you're a fantasy football junkie, I'm sure you understand how serious NFL Sundays can be.

Of course, my team "Child Please" was on a roll, we were 2-0 just tearing up the competition, and then leave it up to a kicker, Adam Vinatieri , to leave us two points short of winning last Sunday.

Oh how a missed field goal in the third quarter can wreck a fantasy win.

OK, I'm over it, back to the point of this whole blog.

I couldn't be happier with our first pick, QB Drew Brees.

And although he had a slow game against the Bills last Sunday, he's been the man racking up all the points for me.

Yes, this Sunday will be a test for Brees as he faces the New York Jets defense, but the Saints are at home and there is a touchdown record to be broken.

All I know is we need to bounce back from that lame loss last week, and Brees you're my man.

To my opponent this afternoon, "kiss the baby!"

Tuel, Nice Change for WSU

Ok Cougs...so I know that we're playing a team that cares more about showing their pimped out jerseys in a New York Fashion Show, than playing a game of football, but personally I think our traditional style is so much better.

Anyway, enough with the fashion talk, lets talk about today's game, and the new found hope for Coug fans.

Jeff Tuel will become the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Washington State since Drew Bledsoe in 1990.

This was something that needed to happen, no offence to Kevin Lopina (very nice young man) or Lobbestael, but we needed a fresh face at the QB position.

Tuel, who is out of Fresno, CA Tuel, started only his senior year in high school, throwing for 1,714 yards and 12 touchdowns.

When I got home from work last weekend, and saw Tuel playing QB, my jaw dropped but in a good way, as he lead the Cougs down the field to eventually score.

And I'm not joking when I saw those kids celebrating on the sideline, I got a little emotional.

The kids want to win more than anything, it's not their fault that the coaching is not all the way there!

I give Paul Wulff props for one thing, starting Jeff Tuel this week...Go Cougs!

LaGarrette Blount‎ Quick Comeback?

Oh Oregon, you always have to keep yourselves in the media, now don't you.

If it's not the blinding neon colored Jerseys, or the overrated pre-season rankings, it's always something.

Here's the deal, LaGarrette Blount is crazy, he obviously has major anger management issues (that's apparent, when you not only hit the opponent, but you hit your own teammate, along with almost causing riot in the stands).

But with all that being said, I think when Oregon suspended him for the whole year, that was a little much, I mean suspend him for four games, make him go to anger classes and see if he improves.

Now after all that media hype, Chip Kelly and his flock are thinking about reinstating Blount.

Why didn't you just make the right decision the first time Oregon?

The Perk of Moving

First of all, I'm a Coug, and will always be a Coug, however it's definitely been tough being a fan the past three years considering their program has gone down the potty.

I was lucky to have been going to school during their "good" years, that included everything from Mike Price (great coach no matter what happened down South), Jason Gesser, Marcus Trufant, Eric Coleman, and you can't forget Coach Rob Akey!

Football at that time was exciting to watch...defense won games and you can't forget the time you picked up the paper and your team was ranked #3 in the country.

OK, but that was the past and this is the present, and all I'm saying now is as bad as it sucks to move around all the time when you're in the broadcasting field, there are also some perks when it comes to following sports teams.

The only thing that has kept me from being a non-grieving Coug fan is the fact that I've found an interest in the teams I've covered along my journey as a sports reporter.

Most of it started when I was in Montgomery, AL, where there is no messing around with picking a team... you're either Auburn or Alabama.

Of course, I ended up covering Coach Tommy Tuberville and the Tigers more and found that this would be "my team," at least down South.

Aside from the fact that I ended up marrying an Auburn Alum, I still follow former players on Sunday, whether that be Ben Obomanu, Will Herring, Courntney Taylor, or Gerrard Powers.

And I still enjoy cheering for Auburn on Saturdays, even with their new coach Gene Chizik (he's slowly growing on me, but not sold yet).

Football isn't the only sport I covered in the South, baseball was also big considering we had the Montgomery Biscuits (AA for Tampa Bay).

Covering these guys during their back-to-back Southern League Championships, also made up for my struggling team back home...The Mariners.

Although I balanced a camera on my shoulders for nine innings, it was worth the sore back now that I get to see Evan Longoria tear things up in the MLB! (And yes I do like the Tampa Bay Rays and Mariners).

So two years later I get the gig up in Spokane (my hometown), this is when I realized it was time to face reality because I finally had to cover a losing team.

Although it was great to be back down at WSU again, it was not easy covering my Cougs.

Injury after injury, no steady QB, and a coaching staff that doesn't really fit.

But I held it together and separated being a fan from a sports reporter.

I don't know if it was a blessing in disguise or what but after a painful hernia surgery and being laid off from KXLY, I was back to covering teams that won.

Next stop, Missoula, MT...Home of the Griz!

After a heart-breaking loss last year in the championship game, the Griz are back with all their weapons, and I've once again adopted a team.

As for the Cougs, no matter how bad you might be, I will always be a fan no matter what!

But I'm not going to lie it's been fun adopting teams along the way...that's the real perk of moving!