KEITH GROLLER'S INTERVIEW WITH REGINA

From Keith Groller,

I respect people who work hard and that's why I respect Regina Potocnie, who is the driving force behind Service Electric's popular "Sports Scene" show. I can't tell you how many times I thought I was going to be the only media person at a local event only to find a Service Electric truck already there because Regina, in her role as coordinating producer, scheduled them for "Sports Scene."

Few people in the business work harder than this young lady.

She was my Take 5 subject in Wednesday's newspaper, but because of space constraints, only a small portion of the Q-and-A could run. So here it is in full:

Background: Regina is 28, a graduate of Whitehall High and Montclair State. She has three younger brothers and a litlte half-sister. She has been at Service Electric for five years, starting as a field/sideline reporter.
Q: How did you become interested in sports?

My whole entire family is really big into sports, so I grew up with it being a huge part of our lives. My parents taught us many life lessons thru our athletics. Even though all my brothers are younger than me, I had to know what was going on on Sundays or no one would talk to me all day!

> Q: Which sports did you play growing up?
The only sports I think I never played were soccer, wrestling, and football. In HS I played volleyball for two years and field hockey for one. Swimming & Track all four years. Swimming was my main focus, I also loved track. I continued those two through my 4 years in college.

> Q: Who were your idols as a kid in sports, TV, wherever?
I loved Janet Evans, she always just seemed like a normal woman to me, that was incredible in the pool.
> Q: Whitehall has had a knack for producing sports commentators, ranging from Matt Millen to Tony Cocca, and even Mike Yadush, a Northampton grad, coaches there now. Just a coincidence or is there something special about Whitehall?
Never really thought of it that way... I think the thing with Whitehall is that if you want to be involved in the community you have the opportunity to be. So many people care about the Zephyrs, we aren't always the best team out there, but we are hard workers and if we love something we stick with it and find a way to be successful no matter what level. Sports are huge and this job is a way to stay involved.

> Q: Because you’re a woman, do you think you have to work harder to prove yourself in the sports media world?
When I first started at TV2 Sports there were definitely some coaches that I had to prove myself to in order to gain their respect. What HS/College football coach who works hard all week wants to talk game planning with a girl in her 20's. But I wanted them to be comfortable with me because I knew the game and even though I didn't play, I still loved it. It might have been more difficult because I'm a woman at the beginning, but it only made me better today.

Q: Who on TV now do you admire?
I try not to have a favorite and learn from all of them, but Erin Andrews and Suzy Kolber are amazing at what they do. I respect every woman out there that is covering the major league sports.

> Q: What’s the most difficult thing about coordinating a half-hour show five nights per week all year round?
It really depends on the time of year. You NEVER want to miss that big game or a milestone, so keeping up with schedules and changes in the schedule when the weather is bad, is really hard. In the summer, we've been lucky to have a lot going on the Lehigh Valley, but sometimes it gets bit slow. Somehow it always works out that we have enough each night. My camera man and co-workers really work hard to getting everything covered.

> Q: You seem to work nonstop? You did get some vacation time don’t you?
I do get time to spend with my family and friends and make the most of it. It never is as long as you would like it to be, but I get away. I'm always check up though to see what is going on or how the teams are doing.
> Q: What’s the most difficult interview you’ve ever had to do?
I am not sure if this was the most difficult of my career, but the very first thing that pops to my mind was the football season back in 2005, I was just starting and I was covering my youngest brother Jimmy's game at Whitehall. We were live on a Sunday night, Zephs played Central, so you know what kind of game that was. It went to triple overtime, Jimmy ended up having an awesome game, a long INT for a TD and the winning catch all 5 yards away from me. It was so hard to not show any emotion during it, I had to interview him at the end of the game. I was soo nervous and he thought nothing of it. To this day we still laugh about it.

> Q: You did the halftime interviews at Lehigh games for years and that seems to be one of the toughest jobs in the business because the coach can’t wait to get to the locker room to get with his team. How’d you handle that?

They were tough, I would have stuff ready to go and then things would collapse with less than 2 minutes remaining. You have to try and not offend Coach with your questions, but try and get the answers the fans want to hear. I always tried to put some kind of positive spin on and find out what they really need to do in the 2nd half. I think I was just as thankful as he was when he finally got to go into the locker room.

> Q: Since he’s beating me, are you giving Mike Zambelli help with his picks in the Groller-Zambelli Challenge?

HAHA... it has definitely been fun and good office conversation. I tell him what I think, but it usually is after his picks are already in. Most of the time we are on the same page, there are some though I think he wishes he would have listened to me or his gut!! : )

> Q: What’s your favorite sport, favorite time of year?
My favorite sports to cover is definitely football. I love the team aspect of it, the hard work and goals they can accomplish. The energy and excitement each weekend in the Lehigh Valley is really something special . But it always goes too fast!

> Q: When you’re not watching sports on TV, what are you watching?
Well Thursday's nights is definitely Grey's Anatomy with my girlfriends. I also like Entourage, The Office, and my guilty HS drama is One Tree Hill. Other than that its the Red Sox, a game or Sports Center.

> Q: Where do you want to be and what do you want to be doing in 10 years?
I definitely see a family in my future. I want to have a healthy marriage with a bunch of children that we can pass our love for so many things (especially sports) onto!

Keith Groller