Last week was an extremely fun yet busy week. It was a week where I had little free time and spent hours covering sports which is exactly what I want to do.
Every night I was busy covering and broadcasting a game or driving to one. In a seven day span I covered six games, broadcast four of them, each a different sport.
First I was on the IU Radio Network for the IU women’s basketball broadcast. With this role, I read stats and gave tidbits at halftime and postgame. During the game, I chimed in when I had something worth noting. While play-by-play is my passion, this gig provides fantastic on-the-job experience that I value greatly.
Next, I was Evansville bound Wednesday, calling the Indiana men’s basketball game for IU’s student station, WIUX. I felt like I was really in my element here — comfortable, knowledgeable and well-aware. The first half was especially exciting and I thought I had some passionate calls. Unfortunately the system recording the game failed so I don’t have highlights to cut from this one.
The week flew by and it was already the weekend so on Friday I headed north to East Lansing to stay overnight before calling the Hoosiers football game at noon on Saturday. I thoroughly enjoy college towns and so I was thankful that I got there early enough to spend an early night on the town. Saturday morning I woke up early and I’m by no means a morning person. However, I know broadcasting is what I want to do because I wake up and ignore my tired feelings, anxious for what the game has in store.
I did play-by-play for the first half and it seemed like I called a football game just last week. Football more than most sports, is a repetitive process and rhythm. For the second half I provided analysis and felt okay with my performance considering the blowout. I do prefer to leave the color analysis position to a former player or coach that has been in various situations and has a better understanding for what is going happening on the field. My partner and I immediately jumped in the car and zoomed back to Bloomington, just in time to catch the tip-off of Indiana basketball against Savannah State. It’s pretty remarkable that we made the trip in four hours and fifteen minutes.
Finally on Sunday, I had the broadcast of Indiana men’s soccer against Old Dominion in the second round of the NCAA tournament. This game was streamed online along with video and the stakes were raised so it was a different than the previous three. Soccer is a called much different than the other games because there is little scoring and there are short bursts of excitement. There are also no timeouts and more room for thoughts in these kind of broadcasts. The Hoosiers big win put a wrap on a long seven days but more games were just a day away.
For each game and especially each broadcast, I prepare a lot ahead of time. I have team sheets that I produce for each broadcast with all kinds of notes, figures, statistics and quotes. How can you do a broadcast if you don’t know much more than the average viewer about the subject? And I probably only use about 10% of what I have on my team charts but preparation is essential. A broadcaster knows when they are under-prepared and I think the audience can sense it.
In each of my broadcasts last week, I could tell that all my experiences have really paid off. I have had prior experience with each sport and broadcast medium. For me, it was very easy to get in rhythm, get what I want out and hopefully paint a picture for the viewer. There are also various elements that are now natural like reading sponsor hits, sending a game to break and setting the scene. I am thankful for all my experiences but I also realize I have plenty more to learn.
I love what I’m doing and soon will make it my full-time career.
We probably got back to bloomington before the rest of the football team. Epic