The deal isn’t done yet, but Andrew Marchand of The New York Postreports that Greg Olsen is on his way to joining Kevin Burkhardt in the top NFL booth at FOX. Although Tom Brady will take over that role after he retires and leaves the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Olsen will spend at least this season on FOX’s A-Team.
Last season was the first Burkhardt and Olsen worked together. They largely won rave reviews.
Earlier this year, the former Panther told The Mac Attack on WFNZ in Charlotte that he was disappointed he didn’t get to call a postseason game. He will more than make up for that in 2023. As Burkhardt’s partner, Olsen is in line to be the analyst for Super Bowl LVII.
Marchand writes that we could get a taste of what is to come in February. He speculates that if the Buccaneers are not in the Super Bowl, it is possible Tom Brady could make his FOX debut, either in the booth alongside Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen or as part of the network’s studio show.
Now, FOX has to make a decision about it’s number 2 NFL booth. According to Marchand, Drew Brees is a candidate to be the analyst. Adam Amin and Joe Davis have emerged as candidates for the play-by-play role.
When ESPN’s Mike Greenberg interviewed Paolo Banchero in the lead-up to the NBA lottery on Tuesday, he asked what I’ve concluded is the single most maddening question that can be asked of any athlete preparing for any draft.
“Why do you believe you should be No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft?” Greenberg said.
Before I point out exactly why I have such a visceral reaction to such a harmless question, I want to point out the positives because Greenberg’s question avoids some of the most common pitfalls:
1) It is an actual question. That’s not as automatic as you think given the number of poor souls who are handed a microphone and say to their subject, “Talk about (whatever issue they want a quote or a sound bite on).” This is the mark of an amateur, creating the opening for an uncooperative subject to slam the door by saying, “What do you want me to say?”
2) Greenberg’s question can not be answered with a yes or a no. Questions that start with the word “Can you …” or “Did you …” may sound like they’re tough questions for the subject, but they’re actually fairly easy if the subject wants to offer an answer. Now, most interview subjects won’t take that one-word exit, but some will in a touchy situation.
The problem with Greenberg’s question has to do with the result. Why do we ask questions of the athletes we cover? Seriously. That’s not rhetorical. What’s the goal? It’s to get interesting answers. At least that’s the hope whether it’s for a quote that will be included in a story, a sound bite to be replayed later or — like in this situation — during an interview that is airing live. The question should be engineered to elicit interesting content, and there was very little chance that the question Greenberg asked Banchero was going to produce anything close to that.
I know that because I have heard some version of this question asked hundreds of times. That’s not an exaggeration. I attended the NFL scouting combine annually for a number of years, and if a player wasn’t asked why he should be the first overall pick, he’d get asked why he should be a first-round pick or why he should be one of the first players chosen at his position. Never — in all that time — have I ever heard what would be considered an interesting or informative answer. In my experience, players tend to talk in incredibly general terms about their own abilities and then seek to compliment their peers in an effort to avoid coming off as cocky.
Here’s how Banchero answered Greenberg’s question: “Yeah, thank you all for having me, first off., I feel like I’m the number one pick in the draft because I’m the best overall player. I feel like I check all the boxes whether it’s being a great teammate, being the star player or doing whatever the coach needs. I’ve been a winner my whole life. Won everywhere I’ve went, and when I get to the NBA, that’s going to be the same goal for me. So just combining all those things, and knowing what I have to work on to be better is a formula for me.”
There’s nothing wrong with answer just as there was nothing wrong with the question. It’s just that both are really, really forgettable. ESPN did put a clip on YouTube with the headline “Paolo Banchero: I’m the best overall player in the NBA Draft | NBA Countdown” but I think I’m the only who will remember it and that’s only because I’m flapping my arms and squawking not because there was anything bad per se, but because there was nothing really good, either.
First of all, I’m not sure why it matters if Banchero thinks he should be the number one overall pick. He’s not going to be making that decision. The team that holds the top draft pick — in this case Orlando — is. Here’s a much better question: “How important is it for you to be the number one overall pick?” This would actually give an idea of the stakes for Banchero. What does this actually mean to him? Asking him why he should go number one is asking Banchero to tell us how others should see him. Asking Banchero how important it would be go number one is asking him to tell us about his feelings, something that’s much more likely to produce an interesting answer.
The point here isn’t to question Greenberg’s overall competence because I don’t. He’s as versatile a host as there is in the game, and anyone else in the industry has something to learn from the way he teases ahead to content. What I want to point out not just how we fail to maximize opportunities to generate interesting content, but why. Interviews are a staple of the sports-media industry. We rely on these interviews as both primary content that will be consumed directly, and as the genesis for our own opinions and reaction yet for all that importance we spend very little time thinking about the kind of answer this question is likely to produce.
One of the most significant moments in radio sales is when the client agrees to your proposal and says YES. But, when they do say YES, do you know what’s next? We better have an answer!
We spend a lot of time getting ready for clients with research, spec spots (thank you, radio sales trainer Chris Lytle-go to 22:30), proposals, and meetings. All of our focus is on getting the client to say YES. We should spend as much time on what we will do after the client says YES. For example, getting newer sales reps to sell annual advertising contracts would be ideal for building a list. They would have less pressure, more job security, and could spend more time making the advertising work for their clients. But, since most newer reps don’t know the business yet, they don’t bite off more than they can chew and sell a package of the month.
When a client says yes to the weight loss promotion, it’s pretty clear how to write the ads, what the promos will say, etc. BUT, if a newer sales rep starts selling annual contracts to a direct local client who needs a resource, how will that work? Let’s make sure we paint the picture right upfront. More experienced reps know that they need to assume the client will say YES to the weight loss promo and have a plan accordingly.
They have the next steps to building copy and promos, a credit app or credit card payment form, and any other detail the client must provide. But, when we ask a direct local client for an annual advertising contract, watch out! You have just made a partnership. Why not lay out, upfront, what that will look like. And I understand not every local client needs the same level of service.
A car dealer has the factories pushing quarterly promotions, agencies producing ads, and in-house marketing directors pulling it all together sometimes. Other clients need your help in promotions, copywriting, or idea generation. Make a plan upfront with your client about when you will meet to discuss the next quarter’s ad program. Include your station’s promotions or inventory for football and basketball season, a summer NTR event, digital testimonials with on-air talent, etc., in your annual proposal. Go out as far as you can and show what you have to offer to the client and how you can execute it. This exercise is good for you and, once mastered, guides the client on how you will take care of them after the sale. It also opens your eyes to what it takes to have a successful client partnership inside and outside the station.
A University of Chicago journalist went full “Peter Doocy mode” on former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki during a forum at the school Wednesday.
According to a transcript published on Mediate, Daniel Schmidt asked Psaki if she regrets encouraging people to protest outside of the Supreme Court Justices’ homes in the wake of the leaked draft opinion that purports to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“Let me first say because I think facts matter and facts are important,” Psaki said. “I never encouraged anyone to protest. I encouraged them to engage peacefully, and to do it without violence, without threats, and without intimidation.”
According to The Hill, Protesters have gathered at the homes of Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Justice Samuel Alito.
“If they’re breaking the law, of course, they shouldn’t do that. And I also said that, too. Thank you for your question!” Psaki added.
Last month, another University of Chicago student confronted CNN host Brian Stelter regarding the network’s role in disseminating alleged fake news.
Former President Donald Trump is not happy with Google. According to Rolling Stone, Trump believes that the tech giant is trying to ruin his new social media platform, TRUTH Social. The platform is currently not available to Android users which have drawn the ire of Trump.
“One person whom the outlet did not identify claimed to have discussed TRUTH Social’s unavailability for Android users with Trump,” the magazine wrote. “The person said he has also asked questions such as, “What’s up with Google?” and, “[is Google trying to] screw with me?”
Truth Social was developed by Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and is headed by former congressman Devin Nunes.
Trump reportedly believes that Google and YouTube are out to get him. “This has left Trump with questions about the status of the product and whether his perceived enemies at Google had any plans to reject it,” the report said.
“Is Google trying to f**k me?” Trump asked.
Big Tech banned Trump from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat following the Jan. 6 riots.
It’s official. The final piece of Rush Limbaugh on syndicated radio will be retired soon. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton told their audience Thursday that the rights to Rush’s iconic bumper music “My City was Gone” are set to expire.
Limbaugh popularized the song performed by The Pretenders using it as a bumper song which then became synonymous with his overall brand.
“For decades, Rush’s theme song has reminded everyone about their truth and clarity are on the way,” Travis said. “It’s an iconic song forever that’s going to be attached to Rush Limbaugh and everything that he represented.”
With the one-year anniversary of the “Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” approaching, the duo spent time reflecting on the show’s inception and the indelible mark that Limbaugh left on millions of Americans.
“And for us, this is really like retiring the jersey in sports,” said Sexton. “Because Rush’s theme song is forever attached to his memory, everything he built, and we deeply honor that, his legacy. And that song is a part of his legacy, of course.”
Clay & Buck’s new theme song is “My Own Worst Enemy.”
“These guys moved to Tennessee from California because they were so frustrated with the direction that California politics had gone (laughing), and they are going to be longtime listeners of this show,” Travis said.
“They loved Rush. And when we had this conversation with them, Buck, I mean you should have seen their faces and how excited they were to be able to bring their music to this audience and connect their brand and their spirit with the spirit and brand of the greatest radio show audience that has ever existed in American history,” he added.
Tony Bruno has been a staple of the sports radio business for decades. Bruno is from Philadelphia and was teamed up in the early nineties with a duo still dominating the local airwaves there today, Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti. The three reunited Thursday morning on 94 WIP to remember the glory days of their partnership and friendship.
One of the first moments Cataldi asked Bruno if he remembered was the update he did from a tree outside of their studio and the answer was an emphatic yes.
“Absolutely, it’s one of the highlights of my life – other than interviewing four Presidents and every sports athlete in history – there’s no bigger moment than me climbing up in the tree, which was obstructing our view of William Penn and the city skyline. That’s what I do, I was a man of action. I’m not one of these guys that talks the talk, I climb the tree to do whatever is necessary.”
More frivolity followed when Cataldi harkened back to a segment of ‘Damsels in Distress’ and a time in which Bruno was sent on the street during a snowstorm to help shovel people out of their driveways. Bruno quickly recalled, “Man of the people. I should run for – I should of run for Governor of Pennsylvania or Senate or something.”
Bruno added that his favorite rant (and one that Cataldi loved too) wasn’t about the Cowboys or sports at all. “My favorite was my Infinity Broadcasting rant where I went on one day and even ripped our bosses, all the way up to the top of Infinity Broadcasting.” Cataldi cackled and praised Bruno’s rants more before being interrupted by Bruno saying, “yeah, my only regret is I never really ripped Al (Morganti) the way I should have ripped him. I let him of the hook so many times.”
An insightful moment came at the end of the call when Cataldi asked rhetorically if Bruno ever thought they (Cataldi & Morganti) would still be doing this thirty years later and then asked if Tony ever regretted leaving.
“It was a tough decision, Ang,” Bruno answered. “I was given an ultimatum. When I came to work with you guys, I loved every day. Every day we had fun. We did stuff that put Sports Radio in Philly on the map and I’m proud of that. It wasn’t one of those, ‘oh I got to go; I’m too big for these guys’. I even turned the ESPN job down a couple of times.
“My kids were still younger then, I didn’t want to move. I didn’t have to move. They said just come up here on weekends and that’s how ESPN Radio started. So I was doing weekends and Tom Bigby (Program Director) didn’t like that either, told me it wasn’t going to work. It was a philosophical thing. When he told me, ‘you should go because we are not going to pay you what they’re paying you,’ I said ok.
Cataldi began to sign off with Bruno with genuine thanks: “I got to tell you something Tone, we are indebted to you for the rest of our lives because we both learned so much from you and you are one of the great talents that radio has ever had.”
Nick Saban had some choice words about recruiting in the NIL era on Wednesday night. The Alabama head coach didn’t just voice frustrations with the process. He called out three schools specifically for using Name, Image and Likeness payments to create an advantage for themselves in recruiting.
He said that Texas A&M, which signed the top-ranked recruiting class in 2022 according to a number of outlets “bought every player on their team.”
He said that Jackson State gave a player $1 million to come to the school. “It was in the paper,” he said. “They bragged about it! Nobody did anything about it.”
It is likely that he was talking about defensive back Travis Hunter, widely regarded as one of the five best players in the class of 2022. It should be noted that Jackson State Coach Deion Sanders has been adamant that Hunter did not receive a dime from the school or anyone else.
The comments created plenty of content on sports radio on Thursday.
"Nick Saban needs to apologize… He ripped a coach, he ripped a program. It's unprofessional and he frankly is held to a higher standard."@ColinCowherd defends Jimbo Fisher pic.twitter.com/oDRSz9QAwT
Jimbo Fischer, the head coach of Texas A&M took the story to a new level with a press conference of his own in which he cryptically encouraged people to “dig into” Saban’s career history.
The commentary in the sports media came in all kinds of forms. Plenty took to Twitter to express an opinion.
Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher are both from West Virginia, both won (a) national title(s) as head coaches, coach in the toughest division in the sport and Fisher became the first former Saban assistant to beat Saban.
This is Stone Cold vs. The Rock in the Attitude Era.
Coaches don’t like change. Nick Saban doesn’t like threats to his dominance. Every one of these comments from coaches is grounded in control freaks who have lost some of that and are trying to get it back as best they can. https://t.co/5xkdfokEzw
Its pretty funny the entire Saban Fisher dipsute is based on the fact that the only way to get a 18 year old to want to live in college station is to literaly pay him a million dollars
The coaches may be relatively quiet in public for a while. That doesn’t mean the stories and reactions are going away. Saban’s comments and the ensuing rebuttals will be used to fuel content on sports television and radio through the offseason and likely beyond.
Are you among the people passionate about writing and journalism? On top of this, do you love sports too? Are you looking for a career option that has both of the things you like and are passionate about? Well, being a professional sports media writer might be the job opportunity you are looking for.
Being in the industry of sports media news is not easy at all. You have to do a lot of things that take up your time and sometimes you may end up without free time at all. But if this is your passion, then sports media jobs might be just for you. What does it mean to be a sports writer? How to become one of them? Find out below.
What You Need to Know to Become a Sports Media Writer
If you want to work in the sports media, you need to know a few things before actually diving into this job. Being a journalist is not easy, but being a sports media writer is even more challenging. However, if you have a true passion for this field, you will surely enjoy it.
To become a professional in this field, beginners and students should undergo extensive journalism training. It would be great if you could find professional writers to help you with your first papers. Experts offer their help online and it proves to be so helpful to all who want to kick off their career as a sports media writer.
Besides the training you should undergo, you need to prepare for what follows. Being a sports media writer is a lifestyle and there might be some changes to your actual one. As a sports journalist, you will write about a variety of topics. Some of them choose to cover entire leagues in their articles, while others focus only on one team.
To gather topics for your articles, you will need to attend press conferences, go to matches as a media representative, and attend coach training sessions. At the same time, you need to keep yourself updated with the latest news in the field and follow sports bloggers and players. It sounds like a job with a lot of activity, traveling, writing, and sports. So, it might be exactly what you’re looking for.
But how do you become a sports media writer?
Practice Your Writing Skills
One of the most important skills you need to develop is your writing skills. Without them, it would be problematic to become a professional sports writer. So, if you know you want to be a journalist, it would be helpful to start practicing your writing skills as soon as you can. This is important because it takes time and practice to hone your writing skills.
You need to write daily so that you will expand your field vocabulary, but also practice distinct writing strategies. As a sports media writer, you do not only need to write news about a team or a league. You need to hook the readers and have them read the entire article. So, practicing your writing skills and improving them day by day will help you become a sports media writer.
The next thing you could do is enroll in a good college to learn more about journalism. But if sports journalism is your passion, you should look for a school that has sports teams. This way, you will have a nice opportunity to practice your skills exactly in the field you want to work in. Writing about the school team will be a tremendous experience that will help you advance and prepare for your future career.
Find an internship
Another thing you could do to become a professional sports media writer is to find experts you could learn from. You can easily do this by finding an internship in this field. Getting one at a sports media publication would be awesome. You will have hands-on experience with writing on sports topics, but also the occasion to learn from the ones more experienced.
Final Thoughts
Becoming a sports media writer is your dream? Then you already know what you have to do to accomplish your career goal. Practice your writing skills as soon as you decide you want to pursue this career. Find some courses or enroll in a college or school where you can learn more about journalism. Find an internship to learn from the best.
When the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the East Coast later this week, the men that call the action on TV and radio will not be with them. The games will instead be broadcast on AM570 LA Sports and SportsNet LA from their respective studios.
“Due to a few members of the Dodgers’ broadcast team having recently tested positive for COVID-19, and out of an abundance of caution, the Dodgers have decided to not travel their broadcasters to upcoming games in Philadelphia and Washington,” the Dodgers announced in a statement. Similar to the 2020 and 2021 MLB seasons, the games will be broadcast from Los Angeles,” reads a statement on the team’s Twitter account.
No further details are available, so the severity and the number of cases remain unknown.
Last September, both members of the Dodgers’ television play-by-play crew were forced into quarantine. Joe Davis was the first to test positive, followed later that month by Orel Hershiser.
On Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts told the media that the Dodgers’ roster and coaching staff are not effected.
“There’s there’s no symptoms in the clubhouse. I think that as far as the upstairs, as an organization, we’re all just trying to be very cautious. But as far as in the clubhouse, coaches, training staff, nothing like that.”
If the broadcasters’ are not dealing with severe cases of Covid and they have cleared health and safety protocols, it appears the team is open to sending them back out on the road. 2022 was supposed to be a return to normal for the Dodgers and many other teams after not letting broadcasters travel in 2020 and 2021.
