As sportscasters, we’re often told to vary our words and phrases to keep viewers/listeners engaged and sometimes the inspiration to say new things lies in other sports than the one(s) we regularly cover. We’re also told, despite it seeming like common sense, that there’s always room for improvement when it comes to our sportscasting. For me, I got a dose of inspiration and a reminder of those two facts a little while ago. Like many of us Americans, or soccer fans in general, I was actively watching the Women’s World Cup matchup between the US and the Netherlands a little over a month ago. I’m not much of a soccer fan if I’m being honest, so watching a game with serious intent is a rare experience for me. Sure, I cheer for the US when they’re competing in International Play such the Olympics or World Cup, but honestly, I can’t tell you the last time I sat down and watched a soccer broadcast from start to finish. Not surprisingly, during that viewing experience I was enthralled and captivated by every word from Fox’s JP Dellacamera. His professional call handed me inspiration to write this article and for my own broadcasts.
Being a Student of the Craft
Talk to any sportscaster, in any medium, and they’ll tell you that they watch sporting events differently than the casual fan. Sometimes, they listen to the broadcaster more than they’re focused on the game, and that’s what happened to me on Sunday. Completely zoned in, I became aware that I need to broaden my horizons to be the best HOCKEY broadcaster I can be. It dawned on me that watching only fellow hockey broadcasters, looking for styles to emulate or words to borrow, was doing myself a disservice. If I’m trying to improve my call, which I always am, looking outside of the frozen surface is equally, if not more, beneficial. The sheer terminology differences between the two games are enough to help me spice up my calls for the upcoming season. While I’d never call the “rink” a “pitch”, I certainly can use words like “dispossessed” and other phrases and deliveries. Something that you’d hear quite commonly in soccer could be just the ticket to keeping my calls exciting, simply because some of the verbs and terms are likely unanticipated to regular listeners of hockey.
Talk to any sportscaster, in any medium, and they’ll tell you that they watch sporting events differently than the casual fan. Sometimes, they listen to the broadcaster more than they’re focused on the game, and that’s what happened to me on Sunday. Completely zoned in, I became aware that I need to broaden my horizons to be the best HOCKEY broadcaster I can be. It dawned on me that watching only fellow hockey broadcasters, looking for styles to emulate or words to borrow, was doing myself a disservice. If I’m trying to improve my call, which I always am, looking outside of the frozen surface is equally, if not more, beneficial. The sheer terminology differences between the two games are enough to help me spice up my calls for the upcoming season.
While I’d never call the “rink” a “pitch”, I certainly can use words like “dispossessed” and other phrases and deliveries. Something that you’d hear quite commonly in soccer could be just the ticket to keeping my calls exciting, simply because some of the verbs and terms are likely unanticipated to regular listeners of hockey.
Speed, Flow, and Consistency
It wasn’t just the vocabulary that caught my ear either, it was the diction, the pace, and the variety of Dellacamera’s call that I will look to apply to my own broadcasts. I noticed at times where the excitement was mounting and the pace was feverish, Dellacamera shifted his call along with the action. His style morphed to a more fragmented and choppy delivery in an effort to use as few words as possible to describe the action. The segmented speech perfectly matched the pace of play on the pitch. Short bursts of quick action.
“Struck low… the flick there, blocked… Levelle… CHOP SAVE!”
Once the play leveled out and returned to a “normal” pace, Dellacamera altered his tone to be more conversational and keep the audience interested in the game during the lesser exciting parts. His control over the ebbs and flows was masterful. As many hockey broadcasters can tell you, the game is a fast-paced one and following along with the speed of the action can be a challenge, especially challenging to do well. Dellacamera’s delivery during some of the flurries and action-packed sequences reminded me of that old adage of “less is more”. Have I heard that phrase before and did I know that it’s a good rule to follow when broadcasting? Of course. Though as I listened back to my calls from the 2018-19 hockey season, I realized that I wasn’t doing “less is more” as much as I could have and it’ll now be a focus for my calls going forward. Listening to a different sport than my own helped me put into perspective something like handling fast-paced moments. Those are just a few of the thoughts that came across the mind of this hockey broadcaster as he watched a soccer game on a Sunday morning. There are millions of different ways that other sports can inspire you to improve your call, but you have to be listening for them.
Don’t Be Afraid to Try New Things
So if you’re a young broadcaster out there, or even a grisly old veteran, remember to look outside your own rink, ring, court, pitch, or field for inspiration. If you’re a football broadcaster in the middle of the offseason and a baseball game happens to be on TV or the radio, think of ways how you can translate that homerun call to a hail mary pass. Or if you’re a baseball broadcaster and need to spice up your phrases and terminology, how can you borrow a hockey phrase and utilize it in your game? Can the hockey broadcasters out there benefit from watching a UFC bout to better describe hits and fights on the ice? We should all strive to look for inspiration from OUTSIDE our own sport more often so we don’t collectively become cookie-cutter versions of one another.
