Watching NCAA Tournament broadcasters call four games a day with only a short window to prep has always seemed like an incredibly difficult task. I’ve also always wondered how I would handle making the jump to a television-style call for basketball when all my experience is on the radio side. This weekend, I received the opportunity to dive head first into both by calling the live stream webcast for the Junior College DIII National Tournament in Rochester, Minnesota.… Read More

Episode 86 of the podcast features Charley Steiner, the radio voice of the LA Dodgers and long time ESPN Sportscenter anchor. Topics of discussion include:

• How hearing Vin Scully as a seven year old led to falling in love with sportscasting.
• His first reaction when he learned he was going to be working as the Dodger announcer after a lifetime of being a fan.

Last night I called the first of nine basketball games in six days. That gauntlet includes a high school game on the radio yesterday, a double header Wednesday evening at the Minnesota State Girls Tournament, and six games for the web stream of the NJCAA DIII National Tourney over the weekend. Needless to say I’m knee deep in prep and don’t have time to write a new blog post this week.… Read More

After covering nine hours of gymnastics last week, I was completely exhausted. I had a splitting headache, and my voice was barely audible the next day. On Tuesday I was scheduled to call a basketball game and still wasn’t recovered, but I was able to put mind over matter to get through it. On Wednesday my voice completely broke down, but that didn’t remove the basketball game from my schedule that evening.… Read More

In this episode I chat with Bill Spaulding, broadcaster for Harvard, the Ivy League Network, and Olympics coverage on NBC. Topics of discussion include:

• The pressure to sound smarter broadcasting to an Ivy League audience.
• When he knew he wanted to be a sportscaster.
• Going to Syracuse and why it was an easy decision.
• How difficult is it to get into the Newhouse School?

When making your debut calling an unfamiliar sport, often the goal is just to make it through the event unscathed. The thought that you might make a call documenting history is the farthest thing from your mind. However, that’s exactly what happened over the weekend when I covered the Minnesota State Gymnastics Meet, and a remarkable young athlete named Chaney Neu performed the first ever perfect ten on any apparatus in the long history of the state meet.… Read More

Marathon Week: Last week I was scheduled to call six basketball games in five consecutive days. After a snow day canceled the first game, it was cut to five games in four days. It’s not the busiest week I’ve ever had, but it was definitely up there. The biggest challenge was finding a way to be as prepped as possible for each game despite the obvious time crunch.… Read More

Episode 84 features my conversation with Michele Tafoya of NBC Sports. She’s one of the best sideline reporters of all time and a pioneering woman in sportscasting. Topics of discussion include:

• Her experience covering four different Super Bowls and how it’s not like any other game.
• Finding the people she wants to interview on the crowded field after a Super Bowl.

I’ve written in the past that I find studying the traits and characteristics of successful sportscasters to be fascinating. The twists and turns of each individual’s path are all completely different! However, talking to top level broadcasters on my podcast for over three plus years, certain patterns of behavior repeatedly show up with the most successful broadcasters.… Read More

This is a re-post from April 2017. With regular season hoops winding down and tournaments on the horizon, it’s a great time to call games. It’s also a great time to make money for your station or team! Here are a few tips for selling games during tournament season!

As broadcasters, many of us love the purity of the game.… Read More