Mike Breen’s repetitiveness is a reminder to analyze my broadcasts

One thing us broadcasters always deal with is using different ways to describe the same thing. In basketball, the end result is often the same—the ball goes in or it doesn’t. When announcing the game, the broadcaster can actually describe a shot like, “rolls in, it goes down, hard off the rim, kisses off the glass or slides off the rim.”

Today’s a big day in sports with The Players Championship on NBC, game 7 of Memphis at Oklahoma City, and game 1 of Miami at Chicago. With those, I’ve been paying attention to the announcers, as usual, interested in how they handle various elements.

Mark Boyle, the longtime radio voice of the Indiana Pacers is one of the best at describing the action. He uses a strong vocabulary and has a smooth delivery. The combination of the two make for a solid broadcast.

Every broadcaster has their favorite lines that they always use and are known for. For instance, Brent Musburger says “you are looking live,” Jim Nantz opens with “hello friends,” and Don Fischer often says “crosses the timeline” or “eyes it, flies it, hits it.”

Mike Breen is the lead announcer for ESPN/ABC’s coverage of NBA basketball and he was on the call for Memphis at OKC. First, understand that I have great respect for Breen and I have learned a lot watching his broadcasts. He is a first-class professional.

While watching Sunday’s game, I was surprised that a man with Breen’s success, used “puts it in” and “puts it up and in” so frequently. I remember him distinctly using the phrase in his broadcasts but not as often like he did today. Sure, us broadcasters all have habits and get comfortable with describing a play but it became very noticeable.

It got me wondering, does Breen watch/listen to his game tapes to make improvements? The radio voice of IU, Don Fischer records every game and listens to it back because there is always room for improvement. When an announcer is satisfied with his work, it is time for him to hang it up.

Using a wide vocabulary and describing games differently is a crucial part to every broadcast. Beginning a broadcast the same and making your listeners comfortable with the call is crucial. While behind the microphone, I always try to expand my word usage and how I present a play to the audience.

Most of the time on radio, I am the eyes of the listener. A fan is in their car or the game isn’t on television so it is my job to pain the picture for those tuning it. It would get very old if every time a pass was made I simply said, “Reggie passes to Mark, Mark passes to Chris.”

You get the drift. No matter your craft, always work on it and get better. Don’t settle and disappoint your audience. If the legend Don Fischer is analyzing every broadcast, I think I will too.