INTERVIEW: star-ledger's lisa kennelly

who's a 5'0 harvard-educated female who writes about male nudity?

if you've never met lisa kennelly, you're in for a treat. just two years out of college, she has become an all-rounder of sorts for The Star-Ledger, taking a break from covering the yankees and occasionally the (football) giants to check out golf and tennis. (if you're interested in all things u.s. open - either one - she's your gal.)

what makes lisa tick? and why do the yankees suck? poop on boozer investigated.

POB: Just so we can get this up front, what are your feelings on Carlos Boozer?

Basketball is one of those sports that when I have to cover it, I fake it. So umm... he's from Alaska, right? Everyone from Alaska is a little weird. Sarah Palin is only the latest example.

POB: When baby Lisa threw her first baseball, did she ever imagine that she would one day be writing about the New York Yankees for a major paper?

The Yankees, no. I grew up in Seattle as a huge Mariners fan though, and I read every word of The Seattle Times Mariners coverage daily. I didn't have TV growing up, so newspapers were my main source of sports info. So if I ever envisioned writing, it was about the Mariners... but I never ever imagined I'd be covering the Yankees less than a month after I graduated from college. Actually, now I'm back to doing general assignment, so still a healthy dose of Yankees, but I just finished covering the Barclays and the tennis U.S. Open.

POB: So, what's up with the Yankees, anyway?

They're missing the playoffs, and I'm delighted - as a baseball fan, because the Yankees are evil, but as a sportswriter, because covering the playoffs are insane. Fun at times, but mostly insane. As for why? Well, that's obvious: they committed to relying on youth to carry them through a season that was a rebuilding year in everything but name, and it was about as successful as you might expect. Yeah, they had a lot of injuries, but so did the Sox and Rays and they were able to get through it.

POB: Would you let Brian Cashman keep his job?

Yes, because Hank Steinbrenner says so. Oh wait, Hank has no real power... Seriously though, I think he will. I don't believe the Steinbrenners particularly want him gone. And can you think of someone out there, off the top of your head, who would do a better job - both dealing with the ownership and dealing with all that comes with being GM of the Yankees?

POB: And speaking of teams in fourth place... what can be done about your hometown Mariners?

Fire every person in a management position and hire competent people.

POB: What has been the most fulfilling story you have worked on in the past two years?

A search of my paper's online archives turns up 635 stories with my byline over the last 2 odd years... wow. How did THAT happen? Here's a couple, though.

In Yankees spring training in '07, the lead Yankees writer gave me a tip that Cory Lidle's twin brother, Kevin, lived about 45 minutes from Tampa, where the Yankees train. Cory had died just a few months earlier when his private plane crashed into a Manhattan skyscraper - I was actually sent out to interview witnesses to the Upper East Side crash back in October of '06. Anyway, I went out to interview Kevin. When I showed up at his baseball academy, Kevin was wearing his brother's jersey. They're twins, so it might as well have been Cory himself standing there. Eerie, you bet.

Reporting for the story took a lighter touch than some of the more straightforward baseball daily duties, of course. But Kevin was gracious and open about his brother, and the story pretty much wrote itself.

Another one I did was in spring training this season. I was based out of Port St. Lucie, Fla., where the Mets train, which is not too far from Vero Beach, where the Dodgers trained up until this spring. So I went up to talk to Don Mattingly about his whirlwind year of almost getting picked as manager of the Yankees, then having some family issues take precedent. Mattingly knew me somewhat from 2007 when he was the Yankees bench coach and I used to talk to him for various stories. But obviously this was a topic he really didn't want to talk about (his wife was arrested for public drunkenness - it was a messy situation). So first when he saw me he was very pleasant and asked how I was doing, but when I brought up my story he immediately started to rant - not in a mean way, just sort of venting - about how he was worried about how this would affect his son who was still in high school and why couldn't reporters just let it go.

Anyway, the reason this story sticks with me is it was a situation where I was able to use my relationship with Mattingly and the familiarity - and, I guess, trust - he had in me from previous interviews to coax him to talk about it and get him to open up about his divorce and his family problems. This is also a situation where being a 5-foot tall, young, female helps, though not in a sketchy way. I just look pretty nonthreatening, and I suspect he wouldn't have spoken so emotionally to an older, male sportswriter. Maybe, but I don't think so.

POB: We think we might already know about your most embarrassing athlete moment. What about the most awesome one?

I think being referred to as "that bitch from the Star-Ledger" by Carl Pavano's agent was a highlight. This story was the reason why. I haven't had a chance to talk to Pavano since this article, but I expect he won't be too friendly. Not that he ever is.

I also tend to get randomly hugged by athletes (Shelley Duncan, Mickey Rivers, etc.). I don't know why.

POB: Finally, if you had to poop on someone or some team today, who would that be?

I would be worried this would get me fired, but given the state of newspapers, I might not have a job much longer, anyway. Umm... the Mariners? I love them, but they're just awful.