School is in Session

 

Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen is known for his, 
let's say, effervescent style

It probably comes as no surprise that I get a lot of play-by-play samples sent to me.

Some come from broadcasters who want their work critiqued.

Some come from friends wanting my opinion of another broadcaster's call.

The latter happened today (and happens more frequently).

Let's face it, I'm a tough judge, but so long as you can report the basics, the worst I will say is "meh."

So I had one sent to me and I've decided I won't share it here.

It was a lot of yelling.

The thing about an exciting moment -- no matter how exciting -- is you still have to deliver the details.

Yelling a bunch of words doesn't serve your audience. 

Worse, both announcers yelling doesn't serve anyone.

So I was sent a Twitter/X link to the call in question and, shockingly, I wasn't a fan. But, ever the teacher, I felt that I could talk to the broadcasters and coach them.

For the record, I didn't reach out to them and, to be honest, I sense it would have been a waste of time.

Another broadcaster did chime in and they were firm. Of course, that was met with defensiveness.

The person calling the play was a high schooler. The problem here -- hiding under the guise of "they're just kids" -- is they don't get better with that approach.

The critiquing broadcaster was nonplussed. They reminded the high schooler that they would have received harsh criticism at the same age and that if they wanted to get better, they better learn to handle it.

Whether they'll heed the words or not is to be determined.

Sadly, we live in a world where we just want -- and even expect -- praise. You know, the "everybody gets a trophy" thing.

It's long been my contention that many young broadcasters aren't getting the training and assessment necessary to improve. They're simply walking into broadcasts and just going. I'm certainly in jumping into the deep end but I'd rather see the opportunity to learn first.

If you join us at WGCH, you're not likely not jumping on play-by-play to start. You're being guided along somehow. Plus, anyone joining us steps into an established booth if it's Chris Erway next to me.

Look, I didn't like the calls that the high schooler posted. Both were just yelling and words were unintelligible. 

That doesn't mean they can't improve. There's so much that goes into calling a game -- cadence, story-telling, understanding of the big moment, etc -- that it's not as easy as many think.

In truth, anyone can call the highlights, once they learn to control the moment.

That's what it's all about. For me, I call it, give the excitement deserved, and get out of the way.

Shawn Sailer will always point to my KC Cunningham call in the state hockey semifinals when Greenwich beat Glastonbury. In my opinion, I was probably too loud and perhaps I should have gotten out of the call quicker but some people love it so I guess it's fine.

But brevity is always the soul of radio and so I'm always pursuing making the call, letting the crowd take over, and then recapping the play.

The Ryan Preisano buzzer beater in basketball is another example. That was a video (and radio) call so it was important to describe quickly.

Again, the winning moment was loud and I added the "It's insanity in here!" line before getting out of the way.

They used the call on ESPN so I guess I can't complain, right?

If the high school broadcaster really does care about this, he'll learn from it.

Take the criticism, assess it, and use it as motivation.

I'll be rooting for that.