{"id":348,"date":"2016-03-20T11:09:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-20T15:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/?p=348"},"modified":"2016-03-20T11:09:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-20T15:09:22","slug":"you-make-the-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/fshorr\/2016\/03\/20\/you-make-the-call\/","title":{"rendered":"You Make the Call…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your assignment is simple…show up at the game, talk about what’s going on with the person sitting next to you, get excited and when it’s all over, go to the bank and deposit a check!….How could this not<\/em> be the best gig in sports \u00a0journalism?<\/p>\n

The answer? – it is!….It’s play by play and any sports journalist has done it at one point or another…whether it’s playing in the driveway (“time running down, 3 seconds, 2, 1, he shoots – it’s good!…it’s good!!)… on the diamond, (“there’s a long drive to deep center!) or the 18th green (“it’s in the hole!), we’ve imagined ourselves the voices of some announcer trumpeting our own winning accomplishment…<\/p>\n

And really, you’re gonna pay me to do it?…You can’t be serious…My first on air job included doing play by play for the Malden High School football games for the princely sum of $10 a game (1972 Waltham vs Malden, future all pro Fred Smerlas starting for the Hawks) and when i saw my name on a check from Malden Cablevision I thought I had made the big time…<\/p>\n

So when Jeff Mannix<\/a> and Chris Sedenka<\/a> visited the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series recently we got to revel in their passion…Here are guys living the dream…Getting to sit court\/rinkside and describing the action while fans listen in…<\/p>\n

So what makes a good play by play call?….”Essentially you’re writing a book with your voice, said Sedenka, and that’s something that appeals to me the most”…Mannix often relies on his listeners for feedback, “the best compliment I can get is when someone says you made me feel like I was in the arena, if I haven’t done that, I’ve failed my listener”…<\/p>\n

Both Mannix and Sedenka stressed preparation as they key to doing the job well, a job, for \u00a0young play by play announcers that might include selling tickets and in the case of ESPN Radio’s Ryen Rusillo, even being the mascot for the Trenton Thunder…\"trenton<\/a><\/p>\n

Thankfully i never had to do either in that first stop…I was the post game cable “wrapper” returning all the mic and monitor wires to the “Rocket Remote” truck…A skill I learned, that to this day, i’m proud of, a skill I passed along to my son who put it to practice while working the B-U hockey and basketball games…stop by I’ll teach you!<\/p>\n

We all have our own favorites, announcers and calls…It’s one of those great debates that makes for long hours of conversation and reminiscing…I could fill this column with list after list…<\/p>\n

“Do you believe in miracles?” and “Havlicek stole the ball!” come to mind but indulge me a few others:<\/p>\n

Start with Howard Cosell’s call back in 1973…..<\/p>\n