In the 304th edition of his podcast, Jim Rome welcomed broadcasting great Kevin Harlan. Harlan is in one of the busiest stretches of his broadcasting year and described his current route to Rome.
“We’re heading in to the home stretch of the college basketball season with the NBA playoffs right around the corner,” Harlan said. “So, we leave the Super Bowl, we go to the NBA All-Star game, finish up with March Madness with CBS and TNT and then right into the NBA Playoffs. So, it’s a busy time of year, but a lot of fun.”
Noting all those great assignments Harlan gets with CBS, TNT and Westwood One, Rome asked, “How much does it mean to you continue to get such prestigious, marquee assignments, given how long you’ve been in this game?”
“It’s an honor, clearly, Jim,” replied Harlan. “Everytime you get a game with my employers…I’m always very thankful. I don’t necessarily look at the quality of the game I have ahead of me, but I do really pay attention to my own personal work and try to give them the best that I can.”
The conversation turned to the preparation involved in major national broadcasting assignments as well as how much critiquing of his own work Harlan does.
“The preparation that goes in to those broadcasts is pretty significant…it’s basically seven days a week,” Harlan said. “But, we love the business, I think we all feel very fortunate to be in the business and we take it as personal pride to do our best everytime we go on the air.”
Harlan mentioned a recent college basketball game he did which featured two teams which both had about .500 records. He noted you still have to bring it on the broadcast and those games can be a little more challenging than a major event featuring two top teams. But, the answer is always preparation.
“Doing the Super Bowl is pretty easy,” Harlan said. “That is a game which doesn’t need any build up, you just hope your own performance is up to the task. I would say that more times than not, I’ll listen back and give it a check…all in all you’re pretty pleased. Preparation takes a lot of the down side away. Preparation takes a lot of the anxiousness away. Preparation certainly is a key, but at the end of the day…it’s all about how you sound, your performance, your delivery on game day. So that’s what I really cherish the most, that challenge to be the best I can be every broadcast.”
Rome asked Harlan, who will turn 64 in June, whether he still listens back to his broadcasts. His answer may surprise some.
“Every game,” he said. “Every single game and I think if you don’t, you are robbing yourself of a chance to improve, personally and individually. I feel that a lot of my career has been based on self-improvement and I like to think I am evolving season to season and year to year and I like that challenge. I like the business of broadcasting and I like the chance to do even better the next game.”
Harlan and his wife have four kids, three daughters and a son. He said he told his kids they have gotten to see the very best of broadcasting with his career. They never had to move and he has kept his jobs. He used that to try and talk his kids out of wanting to be in the broadcasting business. As he described, three of his children listened and one, his youngest daughter, “gave him the Heisman” and entered the field.
Olivia Harlan Dekker is as the sideline reporter and host for Sky Sports, which televises the NFL in the United Kingdom. This year, Kevin and Olivia became the first father-daughter combo to call and cover a Super Bowl, repeating the history they made as the first dad-daughter combo in the regular season and playoffs. Kevin Harlan was calling his 15th Super Bowl while Olivia was working her first. Harlan Dekker married a former NBA player (Sam Dekker) who is now playing overseas. While living in Europe, Harlan Dekker was hired by SkySports, their version of ESPN.
Talking about his daughter and getting to work the Super Bowl together, Harlan said, “It was really a gratifying experience watching her work, in that arena, at the very top of her game. I continue to be very, very proud of her.”
