When Kobe Bryant retired from the NBA, he was asked about his post-career plans. He replied that he wanted to write books and make documentaries.
He said he wanted to inspire through stories.
Everybody loves stories. It begins in childhood with bedtime stories, and we never really outgrow them.
There are ways you can use stories to distinguish your sportscasting.
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Recently, I listed to the first demo tape I ever made. I was a sophomore at the Princeton of the Plains, Kansas State University. The cassette (yep – cassette) included mostly sportscasts and live reports from K-State football games for various radio stations around the conference.
As I listened, I blushed with embarrassment. I was bad. The sportscasts sounded scripted and rehearsed because . . . well, they were scripted and rehearsed. Yikes.
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It’s common to hear about strong-armed quarterbacks firing bullets and great outside shooters described as snipers.
But should they be?
With stories of shootings and gun violence becoming alarmingly commonplace, it’s debatable whether words like bullets, guns and snipers are appropriate in sports broadcasting.
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I am proud of the advances the TV broadcasting industry has made in diversity hiring. There are countless more opportunities today for women, African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians. That is a great thing.
Interestingly, the diversification of our industry has prompted a challenge that didn’t used to exist.
A white male TV sportscaster I know is looking for an agent. He is supremely talented, yet the agents keep telling him the same thing, “I’ve already got five guys just like you.” He asked me how he can set himself apart from other white male sports anchor/reporters.
This is not the first time I’ve heard such a conundrum.
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If you plan on applying for the 2017 Jim Nantz Award and STAA All-America program honoring the nation’s most outstanding collegiate sportscasters, start thinking now about what’s going to make you stand out.
Every year, the same errors in broadcasting fundamentals cause many applicants to not rank as high as they might have hoped. The broadcasts you do this Fall and Winter will help you win the award in the Spring.
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Marc Kestecher, ESPN Radio host and sports update anchor, shares his career path and advice for anyone looking for a career as a sports anchor on a major sports radio network.
Marc Kestecher, ESPN radio host and anchor, shares the keys to great sports updates.
Marc Kestecher, ESPN radio host and anchor, outlines how he tackles having enough scripts and rewrites to cover an anchor shift, and the necessity of ad-libbing.
Marc Kestecher, ESPN radio host and anchor, on the importance of great writing for constructing a sports update script, versus the importance of being able to edit yourself.