Warning: Jerrid Sebesta loves to talk.
The KARE 11 weatherman got into his profession for that reason—to tell stories. But as much as the 32-year-old Maple Grove celebrity likes to talk, Sebesta can back it up, especially on the basketball court. The 6-foot-6 former University of North Dakota basketball player didn’t sit down for this interview. He answered questions between swishes of his trademark hook shots during a casual game of HORSE against this undersized and overmatched reporter.
Sebesta is the hands-down favorite to win the game, but at least he promises he won’t dunk, and make me expose my three-inch vertical leap. To start the game, Sebesta swishes a right-handed hook shot. My shot clanks of the rim. … Sebesta makes a 10-foot jump shot. Mine, again, misses. Quickly, reporter with no touch: HO. Sebesta: nothing.
AG: After growing up in Montevideo, Minn., you are forecasting weather at one of your hometown stations. So besides your boyhood fantasy of playing pro baseball, is this pretty much a dream come true?
JS: I remember watching, and I don’t know if Belinda [Jensen] wants me to say this, but I remember watching her while I was growing up. So, it’s pretty cool that I get to work on the same set as her.
I miss an eyes-closed jump shot. Sebesta airballs a behind-the-basket shot. I attempt to rattle Sebesta, “You know that airball is going in print.” Sitting on a lead, Sebesta laughs easily.
AG: How does your personality match-up with doing TV weather?
JS: If you know me, I’m certainly a talker. I love to tell stories. I love to tell jokes. I think that I can always tell the joke the best. The most fun part of what we do is that we get to tell the story of the weather.
Somehow, I make a three-pointer. Sebesta misses. A sliver of my dignity is saved; I won’t be shutout. Another Sebesta made hook shot combined with my miss puts a kibosh on any chance of me thinking I can win the game. Reporter with a tiny ego: HOR. Sebesta: H.
AG: I saw your title “Certified Broadcast Meteorologist from the American Meteorological Society,” but I'm sure you take flack about how weather men are wrong more than half the time. How do you defend yourself and your profession?
JS: You really can’t. Because no matter what you say, people will still think that you were wrong. It’s an ongoing battle that we will always have. The truth is that we are right more than half the time, but people of course only remember the times that you are wrong. … The bottom line is we are trying to predict the future, and not only that, we are going on TV and putting our heads on the line at 10 [p.m.].
We trade misses at the free-throw line. I heave a backwards shot. He attempts a granny shot. No Harlem Globetrotters on this day.
AG: You could have settled anywhere in the Twin Cities area. Why did you pick Maple Grove?
JS: [We] felt that Maple Grove was the perfect fit for us. And this is honest: We love it up here. We think that Maple Grove is great. When [Sebesta worked for a TV station in Sioux Falls], we loved the lifestyle there … because we are small-town kids. … Granted, you are in the metro, and Maple Grove is booming. The shops and everything you want, but nestled in our neighborhood is everything we want, too. It’s that feeling that we loved about living in small-town Minnesota, and the feeling we got living in Sioux Falls.
AG: What are your favorite hangouts around town?
JS: I’d never heard of Buca, but there is one down the road. … We do not go out to eat very often, but we have been there at least a half dozen times in the last couple of weeks. Love that place. I’m at Lifetime [Fitness] everyday. Our house is just down the road. And we live right across the street from The Lookout, so half-price burgers on Monday nights.
Trick shots aside, Sebesta hits another hook shot. As expected, I miss again. A reporter with his back against the wall: HORS. Channeling Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Sebesta: H.
AG: I know spending time with your wife, Emily, and Yorkie, Tegan, and playing hoops are big hobbies of yours. What other things are you into? I read personal finance interests you?
JS: I love personal finance and I think that is something you are going to see more of at KARE 11. That is something that is big for me. What is the connection with the weather and personal finance? There really isn’t. My wife and I got out of debt right after we got married in 2007. It helped out our marriage and to be totally free in our life. I draw a passion of that.
AG: What TV shows do you and your wife, Emily, watch? Do you watch KARE 11 News?
JS: I like Storm Chasers on Discovery Channel. … I love A&E, Discovery, Dog the Bounty Hunter. Love that show. Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay. We really enjoy watching that show. I’m always scoping out the news to see what the other guys are doing or to see what we’re doing. That’s part of market research. …
Sebesta makes a three-pointer. I airball my shot. (To maintain a thread of objectivity, I have to avoid describing my shot as a “miss.”) Sebesta, being a nice guy, gives me another shot. Doesn’t matter. I miss again. He proves his win by making another three. Final score: Sebesta: H. Humbled reporter: HORSE.
AG: You ride motorcycles, so I'm going to put you on the spot. What date do you think you and other riders can forget about snow and take their bikes out of the garage?
JS: That’s tough. … [If you can ride in 50 degree temperatures,] late March and early April you can bust it out. You have got to be careful because the roads can be horrible until we get the good rains.
