Mike’s Points

Since I started my education and career as a journalist and I’m now in public relations, I guess I’m naturally nosey. One of the things I’ve always been curious — okay, nosey — about is how company presidents, leaders in their respective fields, and others who have achieved success got there.

What classes they took in school, was the success planned, what factors, people and events were instrumental in their journey — and what can I learn from them. So, I decided to go back to my nosey journalistic roots.

This is the first in a periodic series of interviews with successful people, detailing how they achieved their success. The first is below. The second will be out in a couple or few weeks. In the meantime, if you want to be considered for the series or know (of) someone who would make a great story, please contact me.

Photo by Jennie and Leslie Backoff.
Christine Brennan, 48, is a pioneering female sports columnist – and one of the top sports columnists male or female in America. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Brennan graduated from Northwestern University with bachelor and master’s degrees in journalism in 1980 and 1981, respectively. After graduation, she became the first female sports writer hired by the “Miami Herald,” and covered college and professional football. In 1984, she moved to the “Washington Post,” where she covered the Olympics and, for three years the Washington Redskins. She has authored six books, and the success of her book “Inside Edge” gave her the freedom to walk away from the “Post” in 1996. She began as a USA Today sports columnist in 1997, as well as a sports analyst for ABC Sports and ESPN, and NPR. Her current book is “Best Seat in the House: A Father, a Daughter, a Journey Through Sports.”

Seizing opportunity leads to freedom for pioneering sports columnist

By Michael Driehorst

Sometimes success comes from simply taking action while others simply watch.

In 1992, Christine Brennan had just finished working with tennis star Tracy Austin on an autobiography (“Beyond Center Court: My Story”) and was covering the U.S. Figure Skating Championships as part of the winter Olympic trials in Orlando, Fla.

“I saw so much richness and so much going on that I thought it’d be a great book,” Brennan said.

Two years later at the 1994 Olympics, Brennan was covering figure skating in Lillehammer, Norway, and kept thinking about that book.

After the Olympics, Brennan contacted Lisa Drew, an editor at Scribner who had worked on the Austin autobiography, and asked her about the book idea. “She loved the idea,” Brennan said. “It’s not that I knew any more about skating than anyone else covering it, but just saw an opportunity,” she said.

That book – “Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating” – became best-seller. The success of “Inside Edge” allowed Brennan to walk away from the “Washington Post” in 1996.

“I never would have dreamed ever that my career has turned out the way it has,” Brennan said. “I’ve always loved sports, and have always loved writing. Growing up, I loved reading the sports in the newspaper.

“It’s a dream come true to be able to do the things I love the most, and combine them in a career. I never dreamed I’d been able to cover 12 straight winter and summer Olympic Games and travel the world covering sports.”

While not every one of us can write a best-selling book like Christine Brennan, we can still benefit and learn from “how she got there.”

First, Brennan attributes much of her success to her supportive family, and her parents in particular:
“Nothing could’ve sounded stranger for a girl growing up in Toledo, Ohio, in the 1960 and 1970s to say she wanted to be a sports writer,” Brennan said. “There were no role models, but my parents encouraged me. They gave me the opportunity most parents would not have given their daughters during that era.

“They still are the two most important people in my life.”

Secondly, Brennan said to succeed, you need to work hard.“You need to work harder than anyone else. Success is no secret,” Brennan said. “It’s the same advantage in the country today as it was 100 years ago. You have to be willing to put in the time, and willing to be prepared.”

Brennan’s third piece of advice is to treat people right.
“Everything is a people business. It’s not only good manners, but it’s the proper way to have success because you never know when the way you treat others will come back to you,” she said.

As an example, Brennan said that in September 2005, she spoke during a Northwestern University luncheon, and had the opportunity to meet and talk with then football coach Randy Walker and his wife, Tammy. On June 29, 2006, Coach Walker died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 52.

In the couple weeks leading up to this year’s college football season, Brennan wanted to talk with Tammy Walker for a USA Today column. She had a positive reply to her request within 12 hours.

“Treat people right, and they’ll treat you right back,” she said.

Christine Brennan (right) signs her latest book (left) during a Toledo Storm playoff hockey game last May. Brennan often returns to her Toledo hometown for a variety of events and appearances. Right photo by Kurt Nielsen.

Future goals
Now, at what some may call the pinnacle of her career, what is there left for Christine Brennan to do?

Brennan said she wants to continue her work as a columnist and a TV sports analyst, as well as writing books and crisscrossing the county with public speaking engagements.

“I love talking to kids and people. If I can inspire people, then that will be the most important piece of my life,” Brennan said.

“I don’t think I’m so important, but it seems I have been given the opportunity to have a public voice and to reach people. I want to take advantage of that. I want to talk about parents who lived through the Depression, and worked to raise a family, and about caring along the way.

“I want to continue to feel very good and fulfilled about my role in life.”
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