Trying to Be the Pro

 

"It hurts the entire industry."

I was talking with a friend today about broadcasting and quality when they said that to me.

They're not (really) in the biz so their perspective came from a different place but I don't think some of my broadcasting friends will disagree with the sentiment.

The quality of broadcasting has never been lower. To say that's not a fact would be completely wrong.

We're throwing basically anyone on anything.

Wait, you're a parent of a player and you've watched a game in your lifetime? Cool! You're our broadcaster!

There are multiple reasons I'm reminded of and writing about this today.

First and foremost are the parents, wannabes, young broadcasters, and literally, anyone else who thinks they can just do it.

I see it and, worse, hear it, all the time.

They all -- yes, all -- need practice and help. I once heard potential and flaws in a young broadcaster. I offered help and got nothing but attitude in return. So, yeah, that set us on a bad road. In a business where networking and making friends is everything that wasn't a smart move.

But what really struck me was what happened with Damar Hamlin.

Sure, we all assume that nothing will happen when we put the headset on and all will be simply hunky dory with each game or whatever the case may be.

But that means no preparations have been made for the unexpected.

Oh, believe me, I know one can't truly prepare for what happened to Damar Hamlin. And, yet, we can, through practice and common sense.

How would literally any of these people get through what happened to Hamlin the other night? I can tell you -- with full confidence -- that none of these broadcasters would survive if they had been radio broadcasters where they don't have the video feed that they can lean on.

There's a reason many of us get proper training, be it trade school, college, or just a lot of practice.

There's also a reason that I push for a professional broadcaster to be on the scene with the amateurs.

I can give you a lot of various scenarios and I don't think you need to think hard to understand what I'm saying. In fact, Army West Point played Sacred Heart last night in hockey. A forward for Army named Eric Huss took a skate to his neck (does this sound familiar?). 

Now, think about it. How do you navigate that? You report a minimal amount of information with literally only what you see and no speculation. You do not panic. You are a conduit from the game to the audience and they're counting on you to be a voice of reason. The audience will absolutely pick up your tone.

You fill. You "vamp." You keep going but, above all, you remain a professional and a voice of calm in the middle of that calamity.

Now, this doesn't mean I'm saying amateurs shouldn't be doing broadcasts. We all have to learn somehow but I am saying that a pro should always be on-site and, in the best-case scenario, be on the air with the newbie.

But, of course, almost nobody agrees with me.

Except for Brunswick, which is why I wound up there in the first place in 2016. They (thanks to Joe Early) recognized they wanted someone who had experience with remaining professional to guide their broadcasts. Despite that, they stuck with me.

I've been through my fair share of interesting circumstances, from broken panes of hockey glass to injuries, where I had to stay calm and keep us on the air. I've also had situations in radio where I could lean on going to commercial or even allowing a studio operator to take over and take the pressure off the on-site broadcast.

This can be as mundane as a delay due to weather or as extreme as Damar Hamlin. All kinds of things can happen. Handling it the proper way is absolutely crucial to our integrity and reputation.

I'm sure you can think of a lot of other situations, whether in the moment or after the fact. 

I'll always think of Teddy Balkind. I'm not saying I spoke the proper words in the first game after his passing but I had the presence to choose my words very carefully. I chose to go with shock, sadness, and basic humanity. I spoke softly yet firmly. It seems simple but you'd be surprised. After that, it was important to get back to the business at hand, which was the Millbrook/Brunswick game in front of me that day.

It's also always important to stress that you're not speaking for the entity in question. I don't talk for Brunswick but, to an extent, I am an extension of them. To that end, I do represent LocalLive and WGCH and Neversink Media, etc, and, of course, I basically am Robcasting, so I'm sure you get the point.

What I say and how I handle things won't always be correct -- certainly, not everyone will agree with my approach -- but given the choices, I'm comfortable putting myself in that scenario, which is why I want to be in the place whenever necessary. It's why I want to be on the air during breaking news.

I also spoke to a friend about a potential new gig. I have no idea where it will go but when asked about some things about me the answer given was, "He just likes to work."

Yes. Yes, I do. It's been a week and I'm missing it. I'm ready to get back to it on Monday when Brunswick plays hockey.

That game will receive the care, preparation, and consideration that I give to all of them.

It's why Mike Richter -- yeah, that Mike Richter -- called me "The Voice of Reason."

I like that.

*****

Oh, about the picture at the top of the post. There was a time when we were struggling to get audio to go to both my computer, for the Robcasting Radio feed, and the audio input jack, for the LocalLive feed at Brunswick. So, in the case of both hockey and basketball, I needed to come up with some workarounds.

In this case (that's a picture of me doing basketball), I split the signal with two microphones. The handheld mic went to LocalLive and the headset went into my computer. Eventually that, and hockey, both got fixed and I don't have to do such things. In the case of hockey, I'd use a variety of different cables to create the split.

I called the game into both microphones. It worked just fine.

You do what you have to do but, again, it demonstrates my point of having someone there who knows what they're doing in all circumstances.

Trust me. It makes a huge difference.