SNY’s new anchor/reporter can’t wait to take her first bite of the Apple.
“I might not know every single tiny rule in the book,” Kerith Burke tells the Rumble, “but if I can get a hockey player to tell me, when he’s at a loss for words, what it feels like to raise the Stanley Cup … to get something poignant … to draw something from an athlete instead of, ‘Just take it one day at a time.’ I think that’s where I’m successful. I hope I have the ability to talk to anyone, and draw emotion from them.”
The Rumble has learned that Burke will begin as an anchor on Saturday on “SportsNite.”
“It’s a conversation with me and a camera,” she says, “and on the other side of the camera is a viewer. And they can spot a phony very quickly.”
She hopes her New York viewers embrace her the way her viewers did in her home state of Washington, in Boise, Idaho, and most recently in Raleigh, N.C.
“I really want my enthusiasm for sports to come through,” she says. “And I want to keep it real on the desk. If I make a mistake, make fun of me ’cause I’m gonna laugh at myself. I think that’s really the way to handle yourself. This is a great job.”
What’s so great about it?
“Sports is very black and white,” she said. “There’s a winner and there’s a loser. But somehow, in between the middle of that, is this gray area that makes people bonkers. That’s what I like.”
Her dream interview would have been the late John Wooden.
But Charles Barkley will be welcome to call “SportsNite” at any time.
“He’s so unique and a straight shooter,” Kerith says. “You never know what you’re gonna get from him, but it’ll be honest. He doesn’t put on airs. He is who he is and I love that.
“It used to be Tiger Woods, but I think his aura has been smashed into tiny pieces.”
Kerith said she was mesmerized interviewing Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski when he returned from Beijing in 2008.
“It felt like he was somebody’s wise grandfather — to listen to him talk about basketball, you feel like you were in the presence of a great mind, a great man,” she says. “It reminded me of sitting along a campfire talking to your grandpa and just soaking in everything he had to say. He might be the smartest man in sports.”
Kerith was a sprinter and a 5-foot-9 basketball reserve in high school. But from the time she was a fourth grader to the day she left Washington State, she had a pretty good idea where her career path would take her, though maybe not the versatility she would need to make it big.
“I used to hold the camera. I’m not really built to hold the camera, you know what I mean?” she says with a smile. “But it was my ticket to all the best events because say you’re shooting at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke’s court. You’re on the baseline. You’re in front of the best seats in the house. You have the best seats in the house. You get sweat on you when the guys fly out of bounds. It was incredible to have that experience.”
And now, in a market that demands she bring her ‘A’ game?
No sweat.
‘Idol’ star returning to Coney Island
In 2003, a 15-year-old high school student from Howard Beach named Pia Toscano performed “The Star Spangled Banner” at MCU Park in one of the first public performances of her life. Fast forward eight years, and that young girl has now become a household name after wowing fans on Season 10 of “American Idol.”
Pia returns where it all began tomorrow to MCU Park in Coney Island, when the Brooklyn Cyclones will honor the singer’s achievements in a ceremony before their 7 p.m. game. Pia will be on the field taking batting practice and also will toss out the ceremonial first pitch.
Buddy shows Cone who’s Cake Boss
Buddy Valastro is known for making cakes. But, after some lessons from David Cone, he knows how to throw a mean slider, as well. Cone traveled to Carlo’s Bake Shop in Hoboken to help Valastro — a lifelong Yankees fan and the star of TLC’s “Cake Boss” — create a cake for Old-Timers’ Day for a segment of “Yankees On Deck” that will premiere today at noon on YES.
“My [baking] skills aren’t too good, but I thought it was fascinating talking to them about some of the cakes they have made,” Cone told The Post’s Tim Bontemps. “I even saw one show where they made a toilet for a plumber that actually flushed. They take a lot of pride in being able to design just about anything that’s asked of them.”
While Valastro helped Cone with the creation of the cake, Cone returned the favor by teaching the Cake Boss how to throw his signature slider.
“It took him about three tries to get the spin right, but the last one turned out to be pretty good,” Cone said.
And what did Valastro think of Cone’s baking skills?
“Well, I mean, he should kinda stick to pitching, you know what I mean?” Valastro said, laughing. “But I don’t know if you want to put me in Yankee Stadium and put me on the mound to throw. … I’m better in the kitchen.”
’01 Mets to honor 9/11
The 2001 Mets will come for a reunion next month, but it won’t be to celebrate a championship. Rather, it will be to reminisce about what small part they might have played to help the city heal after the attacks of 9/11.
Members of the 2001 team will be at Citi Field, Sept. 9-11 to observe and honor the 10th anniversary of the attacks. And on the night of Sept. 11, the Mets and Cubs will play a nationally-broadcast game on ESPN with pregame ceremonies involving the 2001 Mets and city agencies preceding the 8:05 start time. Members of the 2001 club expected to attend are John Franco, Todd Zeile, Robin Ventura, Mike Piazza and Mookie Wilson, who was a coach on that team and is presently a coach with the Mets.
Hanks’ Yanks earn Boss’ Cup
Hank’s Yanks, the youth team sponsored by Hank Steinbrenner, won the second annual Boss’ Cup at Yankee Stadium on Thursday by defeating the NYC All Stars, 2-1. The All Stars were managed by longtime Yankees scout Cesar Presbott. Julia and Jacqueline Steinbrenner represented the Steinbrenner family and Dwight Gooden was the pitching coach. … Knicks reserve Jared Jeffries headed to Teqa in Murray Hill, where he posed for pictures and signed autographs for fans.