Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Andrea Joyce, the Resourceful Reporter By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Tuesday, November 14, 2023 - 8:00 am
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Leading up to the 2023 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame ceremony on Dec. 12 at the New York Hilton, SVG is profiling the nine inductees in this year's class. For more information, CLICK HERE
In any individual's career, there is a specific and poignant moment that stands out from the rest. For Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Andrea Joyce, there were a handful of instances that turned the native of Dearborn Heights, MI into the standard bearer of on-air Olympics coverage and real-time reporting.
Some moments occurred as a fan of sports during her formative years living in this suburb of Detroit. Living with three siblings - including two brothers involved in various sports - a loving mother, and a father who survived the Battles of Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima in World War II and declined a football scholarship to Michigan State to help his own father with his corner store, Joyce learned discipline and the value of hard work at a young age. Outside of shaping her work ethic, Joyce's earliest sports memories featured her father, uncle, and brothers going to Tiger Stadium to see the Detroit Lions every Thanksgiving. One of her most enjoyable was the entire family heading to that same venue to watch the Al Kaline-led Tigers in a historic game on Sept. 17, 1968.
My father, somehow, got six tickets to that game, says Joyce. That was the night that they clinched the pennant and made a trip to the World Series.
One year later, the Vietnam War was reaching its boiling point in 1969. Back in the States, Joyce was in junior high and positioned at a crossroads with her future. Sifting through the latest edition of the Detroit News, she stumbled on the byline of a female reporter covering the U.S. military's efforts real time in Vietnam. The piece resonated with her so much that it was the first time she contemplated a career in journalism, and she felt compelled to reach out.
I wrote her a letter because I thought this was an amazing job that would allow me to travel the world and cover these major events, says Joyce. Her mother wrote back to me and said that she couldn't respond since she was in Vietnam, but she would get back to me when she returned, and she actually did.
In his final season at North Carolina, Joyce interviewed Dean Smith after advancing to the 1997 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four.
With the eventual blaze that was her love for journalism starting out as kindling, she set her sights on finding a university to refine her skills. Despite her father garnering the attention of the Spartans, the family were avid fans of the maize and blue of the University of Michigan Wolverines, which ultimately led her to enroll in the institution in the early 1970s. At the time, the option wasn't available to Joyce when she first stepped on campus. Tapping into an attribute that would turn her into one of the best sports reporters in the business, her knack for making the best out of any situation led her to taking production courses within the Television, Radio, and Film department. Although she had a relative idea of what she wanted her career to be, she had her reservations after spending four years in Ann Arbor, MI.
Sitting at the smaller graduation for our department, I didn't know what I was going to do, but then I heard my name being announced for winning a scholarship for grad school, she adds. I became a teaching assistant, but didn't feel like I was moving forward because I didn't want to be an academic. I realized that I always directed in my production classes since no one asked for me to talent, so I thought the one thing that I didn't do was be in front of the camera.
Joyce and Jim Nantz hosted onsite studio coverage at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
Recruiting the help of friends, Joyce recorded a demo reel of a weather segment that she would send to stations - big and small - around the nation. Opting for a gig at KKTV in Colorado Springs, CO as their main weather girl over three job offers in Northern Michigan, she packed her bags and headed west to begin the first chapter of her illustrious professional career. Her travels took her from the mountains of Colorado Springs to KTVH-TV in the plains of Wichita, KS and back home to Detroit's NBC affiliate, WDIV-TV. There, she was bit by the sports journalism bug through reporting human interests stories that surrounded local sports. Through a friendship with University of Michigan football play-by-play announcer Jim Brandstatter, she formed a rapport with legendary head coach Bo Schembechler. After a brief time in Denver to work for KMGH-TV, where she met her husband and news reporter Harry Smith, her most transformative place of employment at the time was as a weekend sports anchor at WFAA-TV in Dallas. Prior to receiving the full-time job, Joyce displayed her first example of resourcefulness. Under the guidance of news director Marty Haag, he deviated from the traditional setup of sports departments with former male players by inserting Joyce into one of those circumstances that would change the course of her story.
They were short staffed, so they asked if I could go to Reunion Arena and do a live report for the Dallas Mavericks vs. the Denver Nuggets before coming back to do the 10 p.m. show, continues Joyce. They historically were unable to get [Nuggets Head Coach] Doug Moe for an interview, but I met him while I was out in Denver and thought maybe he'd remember me. They told me to not waste my time, but I went back to my desk to find out where they team was staying. I called the hotel, the receptionist put me through to Doug's room, and I was abl
