Basketball play-by-play isn’t rocket science. Broadcasting the sport is often easier than playing it.
With these seven simple tips, providing all-star caliber basketball play-by-play will be even easier.
New listeners don’t want to wait. Give it at least every 90 seconds. Pick an end of the floor and give the time and score every time the ball goes to that end. Or do it every time your team takes possession.
Watching my wife has shaped parts of my personality. For example, my wife is always patient and calm when talking to a customer service person, no matter how frustrated she might be.
My wife is inquisitive. When she wants to know the answer to something, she doesn’t just wonder about it. She looks it up in the moment.
Patience and inquisitiveness are traits I’ve learned from my wife.
There are also common personality traits of sports broadcasters who go far in the industry.
Here are seven of them.
Most sportscasters think that if they could just get an agent, their career would be made.
I once thought that, too.
When I was at ESPN radio, I finally got an agent who represented a bunch of ESPN guys. While he did help me some, he didn’t set up my career.
If you’ve consumed enough STAA content, you know I’m a big fan of Jim Rome.
When Rome was working in Santa Barbara early in his career, he wanted to work at the new sports station in San Diego. As a result, he put on an all-out blitz.
Vince Lombardi said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of knowledge. It is a lack of will.”
I hear excuses every day from sportscasters trying to justify why they are stuck.
Anyone letting excuses stop them doesn’t want success badly enough.
Remember again the words of Lombardi, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of knowledge. It is a lack of will.”
Jim Rome once said on his radio show that his dad made him read Napoleon Hill’s classic personal growth book “Think and Grow Rich.” Rome said every dad made his kid read it.
I thought to myself, “Not every dad, because I’ve never even heard of the book!”
Still, I figured if Rome read the book and he’s doing okay, then I would read it, too.Read More
Motown Records is one of the most successful, influential record-producing companies of all time. They reached their peak in the 60s and 70s.
What was unique about much of Motown’s songwriting was that it grabbed you right off the bat. It started fast.
The song “Get Ready” by the Temptations begins with a bold horns riff.Read More
I’m not a good artist. If you can relate, you might think I’m crazy to believe you can learn to be a good artist.
The key is simply to look closely at what you’re drawing. Break it into grids and draw one little section at a time. Put all those little sections together into the big picture and you’ll have a decent drawing.
Speaking of crazy, I believe something about sportscasting that some think is crazy.Read More
Let me tell you a little about my 30-year-old self.
For part of my career at the old XTRA Sports 690 in San Diego, I cohosted a nightly show called The XTRA Sports Hour. It was like SportsCenter on radio.
I was able to crank out creative scripts in a short time. I’d finish quickly and have an hour or more before airtime.
I would waste that hour.Read More
Years ago I was asked to be an expert witness on behalf of a sportscaster who was suing CBS over a non-compete clause. I’d never done such a thing, and it made me nervous.
That’s why I said yes.
Read More