Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2009 - 17

(MGAprofi le)
Off the Sidelines
NFL reporter Michele Tafoya
is looking to spend more time
on the golf course.
By Jon Roe
M
ichele Tafoya might not have faced a fi ve-footer
for all the marbles lately. But she sure would know
how a golfer feels in such a situation. As a sideline
reporter for Monday Night Football, Tafoya's world is full
of " fi ve-footers. "
" You never know just when you're going to be asked to go
on, " she says. " You don't have a script to read. You don't know
how long you're going to be on until they tell you how much
time they're giving you. It all happens quickly, and you have
to be ready. "
By no stretch of the imagination-including hers-is Michele
Tafoya a die-hard golfer. She wasn't even interested in playing
when she was growing up in Manhattan Beach, Calif., where her
dad wanted to introduce her to the game. " It took too much
time, " she says. " I was more interested in soccer
and volleyball. "
Tafoya still didn't have time for golf
when she was starting her career in
sports broadcasting. And she wasn't
a golfer when she came to the Twin
Cities in the mid-1990s to work for
KFAN, Midwest Sports Channel
and, eventually, CBS-TV.
But for self-preservation, if nothing
else, she took up golf-on a
sporadic basis-when she married
Mark Vandersall in 2000. Tafoya
joined a family of golfers,
including her husband,
a former catcher for
Tafoya with former Viking Matt Birk
the University of Minnesota, and her father-in-law, Bruce, a
former Gophers football assistant coach. " Mark has a singledigit
handicap, " Tafoya says. " I just try to enjoy being out on
the golf course. "
In the 1990s, Tafoya served as the public address host on the
fi nal hole of the Tom Lehman charity event at Minneapolis Golf
Club. By then, sports audiences were familiar with her work covering
network football, the WNBA and other assignments.
As examples to emulate, Tafoya held up Lesley Vissar and
Robin Roberts-among the fi rst women to work sports events
on network television. But true credibility has to be earned, she
explains. " The fi rst job I had was on radio in Charlotte. I was
doing a call-in sports show, and it was during the NCAA men's
basketball tournament. I went out on a limb and predicted
California was going to beat Duke. Making that prediction in
North Carolina got a lot of response, and I really got lambasted.
But I knew a guy named Jason Kidd was playing for California,
and they beat Duke. Suddenly, I had some credibility with
the listeners. "
Tafoya took on another role-that of mother-in 2005, when
she and Mark became parents of a son. At that time, she left her
assignment as an NBA reporter but continues to work for ESPN
radio. She and her husband are hopeful there will be an addition
to their family at some point.
" I'm really looking forward to the time when we will have our
own foursome and we can enjoy getting out on the golf course, "
Tafoya says.
The Michele Tafoya File
Club Affi liation: Minneapolis Golf Club
Handicap: " I haven't played enough to establish a handicap. I have played very little, but if I could
shoot 110, that would be about my typical score. "
Holes-in-one: " I have only come very close to getting a hole in one. That's happened a couple
of times, but only close. "
Favorite golf memory (so far): " I'm looking forward to when I can play more, and I hope that's
going to be soon. I've already seen how beautiful it can be on the golf course on a sunny Minnesota
summer day. To be able to spend that kind of day with your family has to be a great thrill. "
Michele Tafoya
www.mngolf.org
April/May 2009 MINNESOTAGOLFER
15
PHOTO BY CRAIG SJODIN / ABC, INC.
PHOTO BY SCOTT CLARKE / ESPN

http://www.mngolf.org

Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2009

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