Blown Coverage by Jason Elam Read Free Book Online Page A

center,
     Riley turned his thoughts toward plotting all the creative ways he could avoid facing the media today.
    8:45 A.M. MDT
INVERNESS TRAINING CENTER
ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO
    It had been less than a month since Whitney Walker had joined Fox 31 News. The competition among reporters was fierce, and
     she knew there were hundreds of other applicants who would jump at the chance to take her job. The window for her to step
     up and make a name for herself was small. So she had decided to “catch the worm” and had gotten to the Inverness Training
     Center early with her cameraman, Mark Sandoval, to begin gathering sound bites from Mustang players as they straggled in.
    Unfortunately, things were not going well. Sure, she was getting all the usual comments: “We’re just looking for a fresh start”
     and “I think we have what it takes to go all the way this year.” But that was the problem; they were just the usual comments . Every other reporter was hearing the same thing. There was absolutely nothing that would help her stand out in the crowd.
     Whitney hated to admit it, but she was bored with her material.
    She sat down at one of several green picnic tables that were located under a covering next to the east practice field. Sandoval
     sat at the next table over, which was a relief. All morning, anytime she looked at him, he’d been staring at her. He would
     quickly look away, but it was still giving her a bit of the creeps.
    It was hardly as if she wasn’t used to the attention. Whitney Walker was a knockout, and she knew it. Her long blonde hair
     framed a face that on anyone else might be considered a little long. But the perfect balance of her features, along with the
     surprisingly rich emerald green eyes that everyone was constantly accusing her of aiding with contacts, created in her a beauty
     that was difficult not to stare at.
    While Whitney was not averse to using her beauty to her advantage—whether it was to further her career or to get out of the
     occasional speeding ticket—she also wanted to be taken seriously, something men seemed to have difficulty doing. To this end,
     she had graduated from UCLA in the top 5 percent of her class and was now working hard to develop an on-air personality that
     showed true professionalism yet still drew the viewers in.
    That desire to be taken seriously was what was plaguing her today. The one thing that would brighten Whitney’s day today would
     be to talk to Riley Covington. He was the story of minicamp. Football star, national hero, and let’s face it, extremely good-looking guy— a few minutes with him would brighten any girl’s day, Whitney thought with a smile.
    The problem was that getting to him seemed near impossible. The Mustangs’ media relations department was already busy earning
     their salaries for the day trying to keep the mob of reporters away from the players’ parking lot in anticipation of Riley’s
     arrival. If I try there, I’m just another goldfish in an already crowded fishbowl. Think— what would Riley do?
    Whitney had spent a lot of time researching Riley since taking this job, and in many ways she felt like she already knew him. He’s always ready to do a scheduled interview, but he still avoids media whenever he can. He has to know what’s waiting for him here. If I were him, you couldn’t catch me dead driving into the insanity of the players’ parking lot.
    Then an idea popped into her mind.
    “Come on, Mark,” she said to her cameraman, “let’s try something different.”
    Sandoval, who was in the middle of a Butterfinger bar, stuffed the uneaten half of the candy into his pocket and enthusiastically
     followed Whitney, no doubt hoping for something to break the minicamp routine.
    Walking quickly, they passed the crowd in the parking lot. Whitney motioned for Sandoval to slow down so they wouldn’t attract
     notice as they exited the gates and excused their way through the crowd of fans who had gathered to try to