Court reporters seem to pop up in all sorts of professional settings. Most people think of them as only being found in courtrooms and/or in other legal settings, but court reporters or stenographers whose job is to record every word stated are needed in many different contexts. Public meetings, public hearings, proceedings where statements are given and other situations are all tremendously aided by having someone there who can keep an accurate record of what is said. Few people probably realized that this is a role that is also important when it comes to interviewing athletes after NCAA Tournament basketball games.
That’s exactly what happened last weekend when Nigel Hayes, a basketball player for the University of Wisconsin Badgers, had a bit of fun with the official NCAA stenographer who was present during his press conference before the Badgers took on the Oregon Ducks in a third round game that Wisconsin ultimately won 72-65 to advance to the Sweet 16. Hayes decided to test the stenographer’s ability to keep up with him by saying some words that would be difficult for anyone to type, let alone on a real-time basis. A description of the playful exchange can be found here.
Hayes and some Badger teammates apparently talked with the stenographer the previous night, as they were curious about her role. During his interview, Hayes paused before answering a question and stated, “Before I answer that question, I would like to say a few words: cattywampus, onomatopoeia and antidisestablishmentarianism” before deciding to answer the question that was asked. Hayes’ tangent led to some questions from reporters who were wondering what he was doing.
“She does an amazing job of typing words, sometimes if words are not in her dictionary, maybe if I say soliloquy right now, she may have to work a little bit harder to type that word,” Hayes said according to Time magazine, “or quandary, zephyr, Xylophone, things like that, that make her job really interesting.” Hayes made sure to pay tribute to the stenographer’s talent later that night by stating via Twitter that she was doing a great job. A link to that Tweet can be found here.
The entire episode was a lot of fun for everyone involved. Sometimes it’s difficult for people to remember that those professionals typing away in a courtroom, in a public meeting or even in a press conference also have personalities. Hayes made sure that we all remembered that, and kudos to the stenographer for making sure that, like people in these positions do, all of the words were recorded accurately.
The Georgia court reporters at Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC would also like to congratulate the stenographer on a job well done, as this lighthearted moment shed some light on just what type of responsibility professionals in this position undertake when they do their work.
