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Most Valuable Player Eli Manning answers questions during a news conference on Monday after Super Bowl.AP Photo/Morry Gash

The Super Bowl as Educational Experience

By Candace Begody

GLENDALE, Ariz.—As amazing as it was for the New York Giants to win Super Bowl XLII, it was just as amazing being among the best journalists in the world competing for coverage of the Super Bowl and its players.

Already weeks before the big game, I had anticipated my potential stress level. I had agreed to write about the game for reznet and the Navajo Times.

The first thing to do was to answer the simple, yet overwhelming question: Just how exactly am I going to balance the loads of work from school and the deadline of the journalism business, while still maintaining my sanity?

First, the approval of unyielding professors was essential. Talks had to be smooth for them to show leniency just a little bit allowing me to miss class to talk with Tom Brady, Eli Manning and the rest of the pro-ballers.

Second was to read at least two days ahead and getting as much homework done as possible before heading out for a one-day trip to cover Media Day in Glendale, Ariz., last Tuesday. The event brought together hundreds of journalists from around the world to interview both Super Bowl teams.

After the 140-mile journey from Tucson, Ariz., and finally finding the stadium, the real challenge was getting the nerve to ask the well-thought-out question of simply what Brady thought about Native Americans, despite my wildly shaking knees. (Not much, he admitted.)

After absorbing the chaos around me, it was a 140-mile back to school, not only to produce fun and quality articles, but also to continue the loads of readings and homework for the rest of the week.

Going off only a couple of hours of sleep a night, quick showers and an unkempt hairdo, I somehow managed to unbelievably make deadline for two stories, present a contemporary American Indian issue for class, complete the 200-page book about Choctaw women, prepare for and run a meeting and take a quiz.

Classes ended last Friday and oh how great the afternoon felt.

I didn't get the chance to cover the big game Sunday, which would have been awesome. But to watch it in my hotel room was just as good considering the hectic week.

From the interviews during Media Day, I concluded that I liked Manning's personality more than Brady's and as I sat in my hotel room Super Bowl night in Phoenix, I watched the game and let my bias take control. I cheered on Manning and the Giants.

I also found the answer that I was looking for all week.

Just how exactly did I manage to balance the loads of work from school and the deadline of the newspaper business, while still maintaining my sanity?

I took it one day at a time, prioritizing, staying calm and of course breathing. Sounds easy, but running into stars didn't make it any easier.

Monday rolled around. I was Super Bowled out. I was peopled out. But the coverage was still needed.

On this lazy morning, I slowly made it out of bed and quickly made myself presentable for one last story - the last press conference of Super Bowl XLII with Eli Manning, the National Football League's most valuable player, and Tom Coughlin, the Giants head coach.

With only about 10 questions being allowed for Manning and Coughlin, journalists waved their hands eagerly for the microphone and for the ones who got the mic in their hands, they stood up to ask their questions with poise and confidence—which I could hardly do, being in awe of the other journalists.

"All of them deserve to get MVP," Manning told the crowd of his teammates. "But I'm going to enjoy the moment."

And as for next year, Manning, who was quite weary from getting no sleep that night, said he will work to "be a better quarterback and cut down on my mistakes."

So this is where all the journalists were, I thought to myself at the end of the press conference. Unlike Tuesday's Media Day, there were no wedding proposals and no silly questions. This was where the more aggressive journalists revealed themselves.

Many had their Super Bowl experience meeting the players, making deadline and going to all the parties.

But for me, it was about more—balancing out my school life, my professional life and my personal life (there wasn't much room for this).

Running on adrenaline all Super Bowl week, I got a taste of what being a full-time journalist could really be like and I was reminded of why I got into this business in the first place: You meet crazy, good, bad people; you have fun doing your job; in the end, the work has your name on it; and you're the one that people depend on to get the story.

Experiencing something like the Super Bowl, you find what you are really capable of. You find your limits. It was an interesting ride all-around and though I enjoyed myself, I am glad the game isn't for another year again.

Candace Begody, Navajo, is a student at the University of Arizona, Tucson. She is a graduate of the Freedom Forum's 2007 American Indian Journalism Institute and interned as a reporter at the Missoulian newspaper in Missoula, Mont.