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DEB KAUFMAN: A Newswoman for All Seasons
by: John J. Buro | Managing Editor - NY Sports Day | Wednesday, February 23 2005

UNIONDALE, NY- For nearly ten years, she has turned on the Madison Square Garden Network with her smile.

But, as Deb Kaufman reported for the Fox Sports Network on this night, she had, again, proven to be one of the more versatile reporters on the New York sports scene.

The Arena Football League had infiltrated Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and, when the New York Dragons' 62-49 win against the Nashville Kats was complete, she reflected on a childhood in Missouri and college life at the University of Arizona.

In 1988, Kaufman started as a Production Assistant with ESPN’s "SportsCenter." Subsequently, there were the pre-requisite stops in Illinois, Iowa, Rhode Island and Florida, as her career began to take form.

Fast forward to the present.

In addition to her role as the Pre- and Post-Game Host of MSG’s SportsDesk, she has also forged relationships with ESPN2, FSN and WFAN Radio as either host or sideline reporter.

Once upon a time, Kaufman aspired to the same journalistic integrity as the fictional Mary Richards. "I watched the Mary Tyler Moore Show when I was a kid. That was one of the first things I saw on television. And when I wanted to be a news reporter for the first time.

"Then, I got an internship, working at the assignment desk, at an NBC affiliate in St. Louis. I was a sports fan in college, so I just decided to go that route."

Richards, the trailblazing character played brilliantly by Moore in the self-titled show that ran from 1970-77, sets out to prove that a knowledgeable woman can not only survive, but thrive, in a man's world.

"When I was at MSG for a while, people would ask me, ‘So, what’s next?’" Kaufman said. "I’ve always thought that it’s really about staying power. It wasn’t that I was looking to go somewhere else or needed to be anywhere else. I had reached a level that was a challenge for me.

"Obviously, New York is the largest media market in the country and I didn’t need to go anywhere else to earn my keep. I just wanted to do a passable enough job for them to keep me around. That was my goal."

Kaufman has already succeeded where men, and other women, have failed.

"The one thing that’s still dominated by men is the team broadcast. It took five or six years of me being there to hook onto a broadcast," she noted. "The Islanders’ broadcast team is what has brought me the most satisfaction in terms of my career. I love the studio and SportsDesk, and I’ll always have that as part of my situation at MSG, but there aren’t that many women who are part of an 82-games a year broadcast. That’s still a little new. I feel pleased about that."

Richards had to work with Ted Baxter, WJM-TV’s remarkably inept newsman, on the 29-time Emmy-winning series. In that regard, Kaufman has had better luck.

"I wouldn’t say that any one partner is the best; they probably wouldn’t say that about me, either. Everyone that I’ve worked with has a different pace and a different way of handling stories. And, there’s also a different karma with each of them."

There is, at the very least, one moment in each of our lives that parallels success. Kaufman immediately recalled the 2002 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs.

"That seven-game series was my first true experience. It was only the First Round of the playoffs, but it was such an intense series and there was so much drama –the fighting, the injuries- between the two teams.

"There was the back and forth of the Islanders losing the first two, then winning the next two. And –of course- Shawn Bates’ penalty shot, which won Game 4 back here [4-3, with 2:30 left in regulation].

"Our crew for these telecasts [the on-air talents are comprised of FSN’s Howie Rose and Joe Micheletti] -which I love- was together for the first time and that was a great experience."

That love was rewarded two years later, on March 28, 2004, when they collectively won an Emmy Award for Best Live Sports Coverage [Series]: Professional, as voted by the National Television Academy.

Kaufman realizes that this would not have been possible if certain pieces of the puzzle had not fallen into place.

"ESPN prepared me for everything. While I was a PA, I learned –by watching the producers and the talent- how to put together a sportscast.

"How to watch a game, really.

"There’s a story that comes from every game, even in the middle of summer, whether it’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals or Brewers-White Sox. ESPN is so good at doing SportsCenter every night –what really matters from the game, the post-game reaction, the sound, and the video. What people are gonna be talking about the next day."

Long-range plans have already been considered.

"I’d like to keep doing what I’m doing, but I’d also like to get more involved with the National Hockey League." The current lockout has made her slightly pessimistic.

She paused. "If they ever play again."

Through diligence and persistence, Kaufman has merited further opportunity to shine.

"I think it would be difficult to run around, as a sideline reporter, for 365 days a year. That’s a lot of work, even if it is exciting. I think, too, that it would be just as difficult to be in the studio for 365 days because I would miss the live event. I feel very lucky that I’m able to do a little bit of both."

One obstacle which the relationship-starved Richards did not face was family. There was no husband. And, certainly, no kids. Just wisecracking co-workers and always-at-odds friends.

Kaufman's personal life is slightly more complex than that. There is Edward Placey, her husband and a Coordinating Producer at ESPN. Then, there are the kids.

"I’m definitely going 100 miles an hour. But that’s okay, ‘cause I don’t like to be bored. There is some balancing and juggling involved, from getting up early and taking them [daughters Madeline and Caroline] to school, then picking them up afterward and going to gymnastics class or taking horseback lessons.

"Just trying to remember which one of my daughters has to have two snacks and one drink and which one has to have two drinks and one snack is enough. Then, I go to work at night and try to remember everything that is planned for the show.

"But, if I didn’t have these things in my life, I’d be lacking."

Despite their contrasts, however, Kaufman and Richards share one very important piece of common ground.

Both have made it after all.

More on Deb Kaufman at www.msgnetwork.com.

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