Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Andrew Catalon: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition




From an early age, Andrew Catalon knew what he wanted.

"I knew at a pretty early age that I wasn’t ever going to be good enough to play shortstop for the Yankees,” he laughs. “But I knew that I loved sports and I figured that this was a great way to stay in sports throughout my life. I remember I used to listen to Yankee games on the radio and that’s really what piqued my interest.”

So he went out and took it with hard work. While at Syracuse, he would go to high school football games on Friday nights with a tape recorder and call the game to himself. He would hand the tape to a professor, get feedback, and do it all again on a later weekend.

“Repetition is key,” Catalon says. “Whether it’s doing radio, on air or just into a tape recorder. You’ve got to get as much reps as possible.”

That maniacal preparation allowed Catalon to take advantage when opportunity came knocking: In 2011, he was tapped to call a Bengals-Bills regular season game on CBS.

“I probably overprepared because I certainly didn’t want to be underprepared, and I probably only used about 20 percent of my notes,” he recalled. “I had recorded the Bills and the Bengals first three games and kind of watched them as a coach would watch film. I knew I was doing that game three weeks in advance, so I really dedicated those entire three weeks to studying for that game.”

Catalon continues to make his way into the world of play-by-play — after beginning as an anchor, he’s called the last two Olympics for NBC, including a Roger Federer match last year — and he attributes his success to an obsession with his profession.

“Writing, reading, announcing, whatever it is, you’ve got to do it as many times as possible,” he said.


As it turns out, he hasn’t changed all that much from the kid poring over box scores and listening to the radio.


When did you first know that sports were a career that you wanted to pursue?

I knew at a pretty early age that I wasn’t ever going to be good enough to play shortstop for the Yankees, but I knew that I loved sports and I figured that this was a great way to stay in sports throughout my life. I remember I used to listen to Yankee games on the radio and that’s really what piqued my interest — I would do that and I would read the newspaper everyday, the sports section of course, and between those two things the radio and the newspaper those were the two things that really fueled my fire and got me interested at an early age.

Did you always know that you wanted to go into broadcasting?

Yeah I always did. I was a huge baseball fan so I would listen to Yankee games, even West Coast games late at night, and I always loved listening to games on the radio and I was always a stickler for facts so I would read the newspaper and then see how those stats translated into the broadcast of the game and I was always fascinated by that so that’s kinda how I got really interested in it.

What's been your favorite professional moment?

I’ve had a lot of fortunate experiences over the years. Certainly doing the NFL regular season game was one that will stick out — that was in 2011, I did a Bengals-Bills game, it was on CBS. Taking the tosses from James Brown in the studio to do the game breaks, and the game came right down to the wire, that certainly is right at the top. A close second was at the Olympics last year, having the Roger Federer-Juan Martin del Potro match that went four and a half hours in the semifinals and was the longest Olympic match ever, that was something that was really special for me.

How did you prepare for the NFL game?

It was pretty intense. It was week 4 of the season so I had recorded the Bills and the Bengals first three games and kinda watched them as a coach would watch film, I watched them pretty intently. I probably overprepared because I certainly didn’t want to be underprepared, and I probably only used about 20 percent of my notes. It was such a good game I really didn’t need to dig down deep, the game was really telling the story. I watched a lot of video of both teams before, I would read the newspapers of both cities, Cincinnati and Buffalo. I knew I was doing that game three weeks in advance, so I really dedicated those entire three weeks to studying for that game.

Is it difficult calling obscure sports that you haven’t heard much about?

Certainly the first time — not even just the first time, the first few times — really you’re learning on the fly. As much as you can study and research it, it’s not easy until you actually experience it. It was challenging, but one of the ways that I looked at it was that a lot of people didn’t know too much about the sports, so the questions that I would have in my head about the sport were probably the same questions that people at home watching would have. So if they’re watching a curling match and thinking “What the heck’s going on here?” there’s a good chance that I was thinking the same thing when I first started announcing it and the way to help me understand and help the viewer understand was to ask the analyst those questions. A lot of times you’ll hear a broadcast and you might not get some basic questions asked like I was doing in curling, but I thought that was a way to educate the viewer and educate myself.

What advice would you give someone on how to break through in the broadcast industry?


I think depending on what you want to do, whether it’s writing or announcing or doing sportscasts, anchoring, repetition is the key. You’ve got to get as much reps as possible. Whether it’s doing radio, on air or just into a tape recorder. There were countless times, even when I was at Syracuse, when I would just go to a high school game on a Friday night and sit in the stands and announce the game into a tape recorder — play it back, listen to it, get some feedback and then do it again the following Friday night. I just think that getting as many reps as possible is key in this business no matter which portion of the field you’re talking about or focusing on. Writing, reading, announcing, whatever it is, you’ve got to do it as many times as possible.

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