Stenographers become NCAA tournament's unintentional stars

LOS ANGELES — When a live microphone caught Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes whispering "she's beautiful" about a brunette stenographer earlier this week, the only person who looked as embarrassed as Hayes was the stenographer. The woman blushed later when she identified herself as Debra Bollman, and anonymity has ended for her and her colleagues.

The stenographers who work for ASAP Sports, a transcription service based in New York, have become darlings of this year's NCAA tournament — and not just for Hayes.

The official transcripts, like Hayes' priceless moment, have gone viral. Others not at tournament sites have read the transcipts from every media interview session because they're archived on ASAP's web site.

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"The fans are finding us," said Marcus Miller, ASAP's director of social media and technology development.

Or as Bollman put it after Hayes called her beautiful, "We blew up. It's nice that more people understand what we're about."

Hayes and two of his teammates helped fuel the curiosity. Last week, after he challenged the other stenographer by uttering words like "cattywampus" in an interview session that followed Wisconsin's second-round victory over Coastal Carolina in Omaha, a photo circulated on Twitter showed him and two teammates huddled around the stenographer and marveling as she demonstrated her skills.

At a rate of up to 300 words per minute, the stenographers working for a company with the motto "When all is said we're done," capture everything the coaches and players say during the interview sessions. They produce the transcripts at a fastbreak pace.

The transcripts are distributed to the media and the posted on the company's website, with NCAA transcripts dating back to 1992 archived on a separate page.

"It enhances the fan experience by maybe getting a peek inside the media interview room," said Marcus Miller, ASAP's director of social media and technology development. "I think the fans are finding us. With March Madness, we get a big boost."

This year, ASAP stenographers have captured some unforgettable, if not regrettable, moments.

— Virginia senior Darion Atkins, after a 60-54 loss to Michigan State, said, "We played like a bunch of (expletive)." The day before, when asked about the matchup between the team's big men, Atkins said, "It's going to be a (expletive) contest."

— After his team beat Iowa, Gonzaga forward Kyle Wiltje said, "I mean, tonight we were extra motivated because we were going to dinner last night and we passed one of my favorite restaurants, Behinana, and we were going to a burger joint. So I was like, 'Coach, we should go to Benihana.' And one of our assistants said, 'Hey, if you get the win tonight, we'll go to Benihana in Houston.' So I was extra motivated because now we get to go to Benihana. So I'm hyped."

— After learning that Eastern Washington's coach had guaranteed a victory over Georgetown before their Round of 64 game, John Thompson III said, "So he guaranteed victory," Thompson told reporters. "Maybe it's just me, but when I think of that, I think of Joe Willy Namath. I think of Muhammad Ali. I think of Larry Bird in the three-point shooting contest. The kids brought it to me and said, 'Their coach is guaranteeing victory.' I kind of looked down there at him. He doesn't fit the bill of guys who usually guarantee victory. Our guys were fired up about that. Our guys were fired up."

The stenographers, also known as transcribers, are fired up, too.

"We're trained in school to basically sit in the corner and not to be seen and heard, just do your job," said Kristin Humphrey, who is working both the men's and women's NCAA tournaments for ASAP. "All of the the sudden there's this attention on what we do."

Most of ASAP's stenographers are freelancers who double as court reporters. They can earn upward of $100,000 a year depending on their skill level and how many events they cover, said ASAP CEO Peter Balestrieri.

ASAP Sports sends to each site two employees — a "writer" who functions like a court reporter and a "scopist," who reads the proofreads the transcript as it's being typed. Typically, a full transcript is produced within five minutes after the interview session, and ASAP boasts 99.9% accuracy.

The venture started in 1989 after Balestrieri won the New York state speed champion for stenographers.

"My name was flying around New York as the guy with fast fingers," he said.

His big break came later that year when he secured a contract to provide transcripts at the Virginia Slims Championships. The players included former tennis star Monica Seles, who Balestrieri said was answering the media's questions as a blistering 400 words a minute. He committed far fewer unforced errors than the players.

Although there's no way to verify it, Balestrieri said his accuracy rate was 99%.

Here's what is 100% true: ASAP now covers 23 sports, everything from the Super Bowl to the Cricket World Cup, and on its website has the transcripts to prove it. Although only after this weekend will it be known which teams are advancing to the Final Four, Balestrieri said there's one thing he can guarantee for the 24th year in a row.

"We'll be there," he said.