Where Are They Now? Tony Dokoupil
6/25/2020 12:00:00 PM | Baseball, My GW: Celebrating our Stories
Baseball alumnus hosts CBS This Morning
Tony Dokoupil stepped up to the plate with a plan.
Earlier in the 2000 season, the GW rookie had struck out looking with the bases loaded in the final inning of a one-run game, watching three straight sliders split the strike zone without swinging the bat.
Now, Dokoupil found himself in another tense spot in the ninth frame of a midweek home game vs. Maryland. With the game tied and a man on second base, the young outfielder took his place in the batter's box determined to be more aggressive.
Crack! Base hit. Colonials win.
Two decades later, it's a memory that still brings Dokoupil joy – and one that, he says, maintains relevance to his job as a co-host on CBS This Morning.
The Class of 2003 alumnus didn't have a career in journalism in mind during his days in Buff and Blue, but there are plenty of lessons from his time in Foggy Bottom, particularly on the baseball diamond, that have helped him on the way to his high-profile position anchoring a network morning show alongside Gayle King and Anthony Mason.
"Not letting past failure disrupt your ability to succeed in the present is the key to baseball," Dokoupil said. "Live television and broadcasting are the same way. You make plans and they go as close to perfect as you can make them, but in any human pursuit, particularly live TV, things are always moving in weird directions and you've just got to go with it."
That attitude has helped Dokoupil on his quick rise in broadcasting. A former writer who got his start at Newsweek, he made an incredibly smooth transition to working on camera.
After a three-year stint at NBC News, Dokoupil joined CBS News as a correspondent in 2016, gaining notoriety for his impactful features on topics across the network's platforms. He was promoted to his current position hosting CBS This Morning in May 2019.
What would the guy who roamed the outfield at Barcroft Park think of that path?
"I think it would make complete sense," said Dokoupil, who lives in New York with his wife Katy (an anchor at MSNBC) and their family. "I was clearly unfit for traditional work, even as a baseball player. Journalism definitely fits. If you like travel, if you like people, if you like adventure, if you don't mind failure from time to time and you like to bounce back and you always have a smile on your face, TV's a good career."
At GW, Dokoupil showed an impressive drive to achieve that foreshadowed his success to come.
The local product from nearby Severna Park (Md.) High School was a four-year contributor for the Colonials during one of the most successful periods in program history, highlighted by a run to the 2002 Atlantic 10 title in his junior season. He remains ranked among the Buff and Blue's all-time top 20 in hits, runs, stolen bases and walks.
"I was alright," Dokoupil said with a chuckle. "I can walk away from baseball confident that I got the most out of my meager talent."
Dokoupil was also a fantastic student, twice earning A-10 All-Academic honors in addition to being honored with GW SAAC's Senior Male Athlete Academic Award. The marketing major won the Distinguished Scholar Award from the GW School of Business that allowed him to receive his diploma first and speak at the school's graduation.
While he wasn't yet focused on journalism, Dokoupil credits his time at GW with helping to expand his horizons, especially a memorable summer playing in the New York Collegiate Baseball League with the Schenectady Mohawks that included a gig helping to dig in-ground pools. ("Building in-ground pools is an incredible experience," he said, quite earnestly. "I recommend it to everybody.")
And Dokoupil traces his interest in storytelling to the long bus rides with GW baseball. He'd often pass the time engrossed in a book. In particular, Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean, a nonfiction account of efforts to fight a deadly Montana wildfire, sticks out as a life-changing road trip read.
"It was just the first time I felt like somebody had captured something like the camaraderie that I was experiencing on a baseball team in another context," Dokoupil remembered. "It showed me the power of reporting and of writing, the ability to summon something."
Dokoupil dove into his passion for writing while in graduate school at Columbia. An internship at Newsweek led to a career in journalism. His knack for adapting written features for television paved the way for his move on camera and eventually the chance to spend time with millions of Americans each weekday morning.
One year in as an anchor, Dokoupil doesn't take the opportunity for granted.
"I think that there is a special compact between people and their morning show, and I'm very grateful to be a part of that compact," Dokoupil said. "When you talk to people between the hours of 7 and 9 a.m., that is a tender moment in the day. They've got a lot going on, and to be welcomed into homes is a pleasure and a privilege."
In recent months, the job has felt as important as ever as the country navigates the COVID-19 pandemic amid political and social unrest.
"It reminds you of why broadcast television exists, you know?" Dokoupil said. "It's not to cover summer barbecue recipes, although that has its place. It's to tell you what's happening in your world and how to navigate it, make sense of it, what to feel about it and where to go from here."
The CBS News bureau in D.C. is located just blocks from Foggy Bottom. Whenever Dokoupil passes through, he makes time to make the trek to campus.
His most recent trip down Buff and Blue memory lane came in May when he joined with fellow alumni for a virtual happy hour. It was a chance to reconnect and reminisce about all the good times and lessons from the game that still resonate today.
"It's always a pleasure to revisit one's one and only true youth and hear from buddies I have not seen in almost two decades now," Dokoupil said. "Baseball will always have a big place in my heart and the GW baseball team in particular. It's a game I love and people I love to this day."
Earlier in the 2000 season, the GW rookie had struck out looking with the bases loaded in the final inning of a one-run game, watching three straight sliders split the strike zone without swinging the bat.
Now, Dokoupil found himself in another tense spot in the ninth frame of a midweek home game vs. Maryland. With the game tied and a man on second base, the young outfielder took his place in the batter's box determined to be more aggressive.
Crack! Base hit. Colonials win.
Two decades later, it's a memory that still brings Dokoupil joy – and one that, he says, maintains relevance to his job as a co-host on CBS This Morning.
The Class of 2003 alumnus didn't have a career in journalism in mind during his days in Buff and Blue, but there are plenty of lessons from his time in Foggy Bottom, particularly on the baseball diamond, that have helped him on the way to his high-profile position anchoring a network morning show alongside Gayle King and Anthony Mason.
"Not letting past failure disrupt your ability to succeed in the present is the key to baseball," Dokoupil said. "Live television and broadcasting are the same way. You make plans and they go as close to perfect as you can make them, but in any human pursuit, particularly live TV, things are always moving in weird directions and you've just got to go with it."
That attitude has helped Dokoupil on his quick rise in broadcasting. A former writer who got his start at Newsweek, he made an incredibly smooth transition to working on camera.
After a three-year stint at NBC News, Dokoupil joined CBS News as a correspondent in 2016, gaining notoriety for his impactful features on topics across the network's platforms. He was promoted to his current position hosting CBS This Morning in May 2019.
What would the guy who roamed the outfield at Barcroft Park think of that path?
"I think it would make complete sense," said Dokoupil, who lives in New York with his wife Katy (an anchor at MSNBC) and their family. "I was clearly unfit for traditional work, even as a baseball player. Journalism definitely fits. If you like travel, if you like people, if you like adventure, if you don't mind failure from time to time and you like to bounce back and you always have a smile on your face, TV's a good career."
At GW, Dokoupil showed an impressive drive to achieve that foreshadowed his success to come.
The local product from nearby Severna Park (Md.) High School was a four-year contributor for the Colonials during one of the most successful periods in program history, highlighted by a run to the 2002 Atlantic 10 title in his junior season. He remains ranked among the Buff and Blue's all-time top 20 in hits, runs, stolen bases and walks.
"I was alright," Dokoupil said with a chuckle. "I can walk away from baseball confident that I got the most out of my meager talent."
Dokoupil was also a fantastic student, twice earning A-10 All-Academic honors in addition to being honored with GW SAAC's Senior Male Athlete Academic Award. The marketing major won the Distinguished Scholar Award from the GW School of Business that allowed him to receive his diploma first and speak at the school's graduation.
While he wasn't yet focused on journalism, Dokoupil credits his time at GW with helping to expand his horizons, especially a memorable summer playing in the New York Collegiate Baseball League with the Schenectady Mohawks that included a gig helping to dig in-ground pools. ("Building in-ground pools is an incredible experience," he said, quite earnestly. "I recommend it to everybody.")
And Dokoupil traces his interest in storytelling to the long bus rides with GW baseball. He'd often pass the time engrossed in a book. In particular, Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean, a nonfiction account of efforts to fight a deadly Montana wildfire, sticks out as a life-changing road trip read.
"It was just the first time I felt like somebody had captured something like the camaraderie that I was experiencing on a baseball team in another context," Dokoupil remembered. "It showed me the power of reporting and of writing, the ability to summon something."
Dokoupil dove into his passion for writing while in graduate school at Columbia. An internship at Newsweek led to a career in journalism. His knack for adapting written features for television paved the way for his move on camera and eventually the chance to spend time with millions of Americans each weekday morning.
One year in as an anchor, Dokoupil doesn't take the opportunity for granted.
"I think that there is a special compact between people and their morning show, and I'm very grateful to be a part of that compact," Dokoupil said. "When you talk to people between the hours of 7 and 9 a.m., that is a tender moment in the day. They've got a lot going on, and to be welcomed into homes is a pleasure and a privilege."
In recent months, the job has felt as important as ever as the country navigates the COVID-19 pandemic amid political and social unrest.
"It reminds you of why broadcast television exists, you know?" Dokoupil said. "It's not to cover summer barbecue recipes, although that has its place. It's to tell you what's happening in your world and how to navigate it, make sense of it, what to feel about it and where to go from here."
The CBS News bureau in D.C. is located just blocks from Foggy Bottom. Whenever Dokoupil passes through, he makes time to make the trek to campus.
His most recent trip down Buff and Blue memory lane came in May when he joined with fellow alumni for a virtual happy hour. It was a chance to reconnect and reminisce about all the good times and lessons from the game that still resonate today.
"It's always a pleasure to revisit one's one and only true youth and hear from buddies I have not seen in almost two decades now," Dokoupil said. "Baseball will always have a big place in my heart and the GW baseball team in particular. It's a game I love and people I love to this day."
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