Shannon Suzuki

Bryce Alderton

It’s no argument to say that Shannon Suzuki’s love for sports runs

deep, even though she works on a show where quarreling is warranted

and often encouraged.

ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption,” a half-hour program which aired

for the first time in October 2001, has stormed to national

attention, attracting a slew of sports enthusiasts -- as well as

Suzuki -- to its on-air personalities Tony Kornheiser and Michael

Wilbon, two Washington Post columnists who give their uncensored

opinions on current sports topics

Suzuki, a three-sport star at Estancia High who earned the

school’s Female Athlete of the Year award in 1989 -- when she graduated -- is an associate producer of the show, charged with

obtaining and editing the videos on topics Kornheiser and Wilbon will

discuss each weeknight.

She usually obtains the videos from ESPN’s studios in Bristol,

Conn., where she worked for six years before moving to Washington

D.C., where PTI is produced.

After beginning as a production assistant at ESPN in 1995, Suzuki

was promoted two years later to associate producer and worked on such

shows as “NFL Tonight” and “SportsCenter” while going out in the

field to compose features.

The days and nights were long, often making it hard for Suzuki to

see her then-boyfriend and now husband, Matt Kelliher, who also works

for PTI as a producer. The two met in 1995, when both began their

careers at ESPN.

They married at the Hyatt Newporter on July 21, 2001. Ten days

after they said their vows, Suzuki, who uses her maiden name,

received a phone call and the rest is history.

“I was ready for a change,” Suzuki said about her move from the

ESPN studios to the set of PTI. “I listened to Tony Kornheiser on the

radio and thought he was really funny. I couldn’t wait to meet him.

“Getting to work with Tony and Mike is the highlight of it all.

They are so much fun to work with and I get to see a different

perspective [about sports].”

Suzuki spends her days -- which typically run from 8:30 a.m. to 7

p.m. --obtaining, reviewing and editing film that is used for the

topics Kornheiser and Wilbon speak on. She usually receives the film

directly through a fiber optic line from ESPN’s studios.

Every morning at 10:45, the seven-member production staff sits

down to discuss which topics will be discussed on the show that day.

Suzuki, who lives in an apartment four blocks from the studio in

Washington, reads several newspapers and watches SportsCenter each

day to formulate ideas. After the group brainstorms, coordinating

producer Erik Rydholm and Kelliher determine what topics Kornheiser

and Wilbon will comment on. National stories typically comprise a

majority of the topics, but Suzuki said there is usually room for

regional ideas.

Once the ideas are finalized, Suzuki contacts ESPN and usually has

the first video feed just after noon.

Early last week, she needed to obtain video of Troy Hudson and

Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves after they had defeated

the Lakers in Game 2 of their best-of-seven playoff series.

“I needed to find something that illustrated [Garnett’s and

Hudson’s] dominance,” Suzuki said. “I also found a piece where

Anthony Peeler was stealing the ball.

A bar running vertically along the right side of the television

screen lists each topic the duo will discuss. A timer at the top of

the list lets the viewer know how much time Kornheiser and Wilbon

have left to speak on a subject. Usually, they debate for one minute

or less on each issue.

“I watch a lot of games and read Sports Illustrated. I always try

to educate myself. It is easy to pick up on what’s going on just by

watching ‘SportsCenter.’ ”

Suzuki’s affection for sports reverts to her childhood and

upbringing. She did gymnastics and also liked volleyball and soccer,

but had to make a choice about which to play at Estancia.

She chose softball, basketball and tennis and excelled in all.

Suzuki earned team MVP honors in both tennis and softball and was a

5-foot-8 forward on Coach Lisa McNamee’s girls basketball team which

captured the school’s first outright Sea View League championship her

junior year.

As a senior, Suzuki and her doubles partner went 56-2 and reached

the quarterfinals of the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament. She was named

the team’s Co-MVP as the Eagles earned a trip to the CIF playoffs.

Suzuki, whose parents Ed and Aileen still live in Costa Mesa, was

a three-time all-league pick in softball, hitting .310 her senior

year. She graduated from Estancia with a 3.7 grade-point average and

eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from UC Santa

Barbara.

“I would have loved have been a pro athlete, but that was never

going to happen,” Suzuki said about her aspirations leading into her

career in sports broadcasting. “I’ve always wanted to be involved

with sports work.”