What I know now

People magazine once profiled Kurt Russell. The story was titled, “What I Know Now.” (And just so you know, I don’t regularly read People. Uh…my wife left it lying around the house.)

What I know now about the sports broadcasting industry

Anyway, I immediately starting thinking of things I know now about the sports broadcasting industry that I didn’t know back in the day. Here are 12 of them.

  1. Hiring timelines almost always get delayed.
  2. Knowing a lot about sports isn’t enough to make someone a great sports talk host.
  3. Great sportscasters prep at least two hours for every hour they are on the air.
  4. You are doing well in sportscasting if your salary equals your age.
  5. Success is more about who you know than what you know.
  6. Employers prefer to hire locally.
  7. Employers prefer to hire people they know or who come recommended to them.
  8. Many employers don’t read cover letters (but you still have to write good ones just in case).
  9. Sportscasting is a small industry. The dorky intern might one day be your boss.
  10. Employers are no more perfect than you. No need to be intimidated by them.
  11. Never accept a job based on “hope to” and “maybe.” Those things almost never come true.
  12. Money shouldn’t be a factor when considering a job opportunity.

By the way – back to Kurt Russell for a second – he starred in the first movie I ever saw. It was 1972. My dad took me to see Now You See Him Now You Don’t. Russell played a college student who could turn himself invisible. Wouldn’t that be a great trick for a sideline reporter?

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