When will I get my big break? Sportscasting is a cut throat business. There are thousands of people interested and toiling away at the high school and club level, and only a select few earn (or fall into) the coveted network slots and become stars. In many ways being a sportscaster is not too dissimilar…
As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m a fan of Logan Anderson’s blog, Say the Damn Score. It’s a good look at his view on sportscasting as he makes his way through a young and glowing career. His entry last Monday was the story of how he got into broadcasting…going from “moderately talented athlete” to play-by-play…
This post stems from a conversation I had with fellow hockey broadcaster Jonathan Kliment. Kliment reached out to Sportscaster Life to discuss prep techniques, namely the volume of information put onto spotting boards and a few issues that he’d been having while covering the SUNY Broome Hornets in the NCJAA. Here’s Jonathan’s questions: JK: A…
Hi, I’m Logan Anderson, I’m a sportscaster from South Dakota. Alex has invited me to write about the challenges of doing play-by-play for an unfamiliar sport for the first time. Perhaps it’s ironic that on a site that’s run by a professional hockey broadcaster, the sport I tried was in fact hockey. I’ll start by…
In the summer of 2011, I had a great opportunity to try something new. Prince George, BC (where I was living at the time) was hosting an international baseball tournament featuring teams from Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Cuba and Japan. It was a huge event for the city, hosting major teams with players who have…
Not long ago, I got an email from a colleague in the BCHL asking about my goal calls. He was looking for ways to change up his goal call, feeling that it was too repetitive particularly when put into a highlight pack. So I thought it might make for an interesting post if I broke…
The more years I’ve called games, the more I’ve come to believe that play-by-play broadcasting is like riding a bike. Once you learn it, get good enough to do it yourself, you never really forget it. Sure if a while goes by between games (ie: an off season), then it might take you a few…
It’s happened to all of us. You’re calling a game, everything is going well, and then the referee/umpire becomes memorable for all the wrong reasons. He or she “blows” a call, which has a direct result on the game. Maybe it’s multiple bad calls, which turn momentum. As both a referee and a broadcaster, I’ve…