Chris Russo: Wrestling Entertainment

Chris Russo ( right ) with Afa the Wild Samoan

By Julianne Dellorso

Chris Russo's job is to entertain. But it's different than the way in which the typical sportscaster is supposed to entertain the audience. Russo is an announcer for the WXW, where his role is to be a storyteller.

"It’s not a play by play thing anymore and the color like you see on TV with other sports," Russo said. "You want to tell a story. When people flip the channel with their 15 second attention span, you have tho give them a reason to have people care about the people that are in the ring."


Speaking to me on the phone as he was getting ready for the day, Russo began to weave a story about how he got into broadcasting for the WWE. Russo grew up in Virginia, a "huge fan" of wrestling, as he put it. He went on to study at James Madison University, where he didn't major in broadcasting, like many aspiring sports broadcast talents do. He said he thought it would be too difficult to get into journalism, so he majored instead in International Affairs.

Russo is engaging, emphatic, and enigmatic on the phone; some of the strongest qualities to have as an In-Ring Announcer and Commentator.

And he's got me hooked on his story. "You want to be sucked into the story. You want to care, you want to believe. And the announcers are part of that mission," Russo said.


Transcript of the interview:

J: My first question is just how did you get into sports announcing?

C: Always a $64 thousand dollar question. It actually kind of spurred originally from my time at Clear Channel. Way back in the day in college. Being in a small school, small town, Clear Channel was one of the smaller Clear Channel stations, so they had availability for someone who is young and stupid like myself to actually be on the air. Then from there it kind of grew into opportunities when wrestling came in town. You know, small little wrestling sort of organizations. When I moved down here to Florida, I got quickly hooked up with a wrestling organization that has very close ties to the WWE. I paid my dues for 2 years at a small organization. The people that had the connections saw something in me thought I would be of value to the big billion dollar empire up in Stamford so they pushed me along. Just the right place at the right time with a little bit of luck and hard work. So kind of that’s how one thing led to another to be able to move along to work for Vincent Mann.

J: So now you went to JMU for your undergrad, is that correct?

C: That’s correct.

J: Okay. Did you study sports broadcasting there?

C: No actually I didn’t. I was debating whether or not to study journalism in college. Actually when I was finishing up high school I got a couple offers to Syracuse and to Missouri to their communications school. If I saw on your LinkedIn profile that you’re at Syracuse now?

J: That is also correct.

C: Nice. Congratulations getting in on a very good school.

J: Thank you.

C: But no I decided against that because journalism is a very difficult career to get into, and kind of where you would have to start. And your career path would take you. I decided I wanted to study something I would get greater pleasure and value out in my undergrad. But it just so happened that it worked out very nicely I was still able to pursue my sports broadcasting and love and passion in another direction without having to study in school.

J: Were you a wrestling fan growing up?

C: Oh absolutely. Absolutely. I’m a huge fan. Been a fan since I was a wee little one. I think it’s one of those things where to be really good at that position for wrestling it’s really preferable if you know a little bit about wrestling. Right? And unfortunately with the WWE they’re an entertainment company which their primary is entertaining so especially for broadcasters and announcers they don’t care. They’ll bring in anybody. They believe they can teach wrestling. Its if you have the background knowledge. But I truly believe the opposite. If you have the wrestling and a little bit of announcing knowledge that I think that benefits. But who am I to say right? I’m not the one that’s in charge of a billion dollars.

J: How do you prepare to announce a match?

C: I think this is where sports announcing could do a much better job. The great thing about the WWE with Vincent Mann is if you’re announcing a match, it’s not a play by play thing anymore and the color like you see on tv with other sports. You want to tell a story. When people flip the channel with their 15 second attention span, you have to give them a reason to have people care about the people that are in the ring. Of course it is entertainment but for me to prepare I have to understand, okay who are the people in the ring, where to they come from what is it that they’re looking to do, where are they looking to go and then more importantly to understand the parameters around the match. Is this the for the heavy weight championship? Is there is there a tension between the two from a rivalry going back? You have to understand the back stories and be able to explain them so the match almost takes a back seat. So to prepare its all about the back story. Understanding who these people are. The crowd, the tv, audience make them want to care and make them understand why every match is important. So that’s how it’s a little different than prepping for a sports broadcast right where you just get stats.

J: Right. I was just going to ask you about the controversy of the whole WWE/ WWF not being real wrestling, more just you know a media story. But you already touched on that for me.

C: Yeah so well look. Ever since Vincent Mann came out in the 80’s and said yes you know this is all fabricated this is all pre-determined it is an entertainment vehicle consider it like the movies or any soap opera. You know it isn’t real, it isn’t reality but you suspend your disbelief. You want to be sucked into the story. You want to care, you want to believe. And the announcers are part of that mission. To deliver that suspension of disbelief and so no one doubts or no one ever questions saying oh my god I can’t believe its not real. Cause look even the Boss will say its real because the people care in the ring they believe it to be real right or else no one would watch. But at the end of the day it is entertainment, it is storytelling as opposed to you know x’s and o’s and all those stats as I mentioned.

J: Right. Alright well I am actually out of time for today but thank you so much for speaking with me.

Audio of the interview: 

https://soundcloud.com/delljk7/chris-russo-audio/s-LIAAQ

Oliver Wilson – Getting the “Juice” Going

By Ogo Sylla

Oliver “Juice” Wilson has always had a passion for broadcasting. Through it, Wilson discovered Midlands soccer and its great football cathedrals.  

Wilson is an English freelance match commentator, writer for football.com, as well as the voice of the World Football Daily show today. Writing was never Wilson’s strongest suit, and so the radio was always a much more comfortable medium for him.

It all began in the biggest money-making industry in England: the English Premier League. However, Wilson was attracted to a much simpler soccer landscape: the Midlands. The Midlands are an important basin of the industrial revolution and thus steeped in history when it comes to English soccer. Wilson’s first job was doing live commentary for Birmingham hospital radio.  But it was his keen eye for architecture that attracted him to the Midlands. In effect, Wilson took an interest in the Midlands greatest football stadia, such as Villa Park or the Hawthorns.

On the night of July 23^rd, Wilson told us as much over Skype, as he was just retuning from a pre-season friendly between Luton Town and Aston Villa. “As a commentator, I’d never been to Luton Town before,” said Wilson, “and again, I’m a big fan of football grounds in general, as pieces of architecture … There’s always something going on in the ground that can hook you … adding that bit of character to your match report.”

But today, Wilson swapped the Midlands for the California sunshine. Waking up every morning to host the World Football Daily show, Wilson is living his broadcasting dream. It’s doesn’t even feel like work for Wilson in fact: “You get up at 5:30 in the morning driving to LA, but you don’t feel tired, you feel buzzed and ready to go, and you just wanna talk football with everybody.”

Interview with Oliver Wilson 

Transcript

Ogo Sylla: Hello, we are here with Oliver Wilson: writer for football.com, freelance football commentator as well as the host and voice of the World Football Daily show. How are you doing Mr. Wilson?

Oliver Wilson: It’s an absolute pleasure mate. I’m tired but I’m ready for this. I’m ready to go.

Ogo Sylla: Let’s get started then. Let’s begin with how you got into working in the Premier League. It’s the big league with all the money is. It’s the land of milk and honey when it comes to soccer, so how did it all get started for you?

Oliver Wilson: It was really interesting actually. I was finishing my undergrad at university, and was wondering what I wanted to do with my politics degree. And I decided that I didn’t wanna do politics. I’ve always been a huge sports fan ever since I was tiny, and big football fan, big motor racing fan, etc. And a couple people said: “why don’t you start seeing if there are avenues into sport?” So I started my own blog and started practicing writing about the NBA, the NFL, football and whatever I wanted to write down. My then girlfriend actually said: “Oh, by the way, my stepdad is a football commentator for Wolverhampton Wanderers, in the Midlands. Next time you seem him you should talk to him about it.” And I was chatting to him about and he got me into the press box at Wolverhampton Wanderers the last day of the season, when they were playing Sunderland. I sat next to a chap called Phil Kampeon. He and I had a good old chat and I helped him out with his work, I was kinda his eyes whilst he was writing the articles he was doing for the day. And then we met again about five months later whilst I was on some work experience with a radio station. And we got chatting again and kinda had a brief catch-up and then about a week after that meeting, he gave me a phone call.

Ogo Sylla: And you were covering for the Midlands, was this the first time that you were coming in contact with high-level athletes? 

Oliver Wilson: Yeah, yeah, it was. I’d never done anything close to this. I’d met a couple of footballers during EURO 2000, me and my dad went off to the England camp, ‘cause we had some tickets for the tournament, and managed to kinda talk our way into a training session. Ended meeting a couple of the players. Not in an interview sense, it was more “oh wow that’s Martin Keown in front of us.” It was the first time that I’d done any sort of player interview, or interviews with any sort of athlete in general. Especially top-flight, I’d never gotten anywhere near close to doing anything like that.

Ogo Sylla: Do you remember who was your first interview and how did you feel about that?

Oliver Wilson: Hmm, trying to think… My first interview… I was really nervous, I’m not gonna lie. I remember the first interview that I did alone with Steven Ward, of Wolverhampton Wanderers, down when Wolves played Arsenal. And both Ward and Kevin Doyle, I interviewed on my own that day. I was trying so hard for my right hand, that was holding the Dictaphone, to not shake that all the shake from my right arm was going down into my body and down into my left leg. So my left leg, at kinda eyeshot, was shaking all over the place. And I was trying to rack my brain for questions and follow-up questions, and I was so nervous at this point. Yeah I remember being, not scared but incredibly on edge at that point.

Ogo Sylla: How did it feel covering the Midlands area? ‘Cause obviously it’s not the big glamour area when you think about English football but it’s a very historical part of it of course.

Oliver Wilson: I guess covering the Midlands, it was still massive to me. And the fact that I was just covering Premiere League football; I mean there are people that would give anything to go to a Premiere League game as a fan. Let alone go into the press box and see the manager and the players after the game. So covering the Midlands never seemed like a chore or as not enough for me. The Midlands was still a great epicenter of football.

Ogo Sylla: You’re coming back from covering a pre-season friendly between Aston Villa and Luton Town, if I’m not mistaken. Tell me, how did that game go?

Oliver Wilson: As a commentator, I’d never been to Luton Town before. And again, I’m a big fan of football grounds in general, as piece of architecture, as buildings with their own kind of style and character to them. And going to Luton tonight was quite a nice first experience, because it’s right in the residential area of Luton and of the city. It’s like the ground is built in to the suburban area. I love watching football in a football ground rather than watching it on TV. You can see how the play spreads out more, you can really get a feel for the flow of the game more, and you generally don’t have a TV commentator jabbering in your ear and stuff. And you can take in the atmosphere as well. I mentioned earlier to you, before we started recording, we had the Villa fans had taken down some smoke bombs, and they were setting those off. I don’t know if it was out of frustration or not, ‘cause their side was playing badly this evening. You had the Villa fans kinda doing that, trying to get a party atmosphere going, slightly trying to boost their side on. Few fans got thrown out and ejected from the ground… I mean this is a preseason friendly. I never though I’d see a set of fans getting five or six people getting ejected from the ground, at a pre-season friendly against a Conference [League] side that means nothing. But there was still that intensity to it, and it’s those sorts of kinda antics and moments that really get you gripped back into a game, however bad it is. There’s always something going on in the ground that can hook you and that you could get a story out of and start seeing a story or adding that bit of character to your match report or something like that. So it was really fun to do. But I go to every single football game and think: “I’m just so lucky to be able to watch football and to make some sort of living out of it.

Ogo Sylla: Well let’s move away from the Midlands a bit, come to this side of the ocean in America, and what you’re doing as a host for World Football Daily.

Oliver Wilson: Finding myself as the host was very peculiar. The whole “Juice” thing comes from my nickname at university, because I’m O.J. Wilson and I played American football. So it was O.J., like O.J. Simpson, juice, etc, etc. And the fact he [Rafael Gonzales] said – seeing my Skype name – “what’s with the ‘Juice’?” And I told him and he said: “Oh that’s so cool! We can turn it into like the ‘Juice report’ or something like that here [World Football Daily show] on this show!” “So let’s use it, let’s go with it.” So I got involved in coming on once a week or coupling of weeks, and talking about Premiere League football with the guys on the show, and at that point it was Sophie [Nicolaou] and Martin [Rodgers]. And I’ve always wanted to do radio. I’ve wanted to do football commentary for a long time. I’ve always liked the idea of radio work or television work in some way, shape or form. And I was just chatting with Rafa [Gonzales] after appearing on one of the shows one day and said: “Oh man, I’d love to be able to come out to California and work with you guys for 10 days, wouldn’t that be great?” And he [Rafael Gonzales] said: “Well we can do that. If you can pay the flight, and pay for yourself to be out here, we will give you 10 days of coming out and hosting the show with us.” And I thought that I’m never gonna get that in the UK, so I figured this is like an investment in my career. I had some savings I’d been able to accumulate and I spent a bit of money on getting my flight down to Los Angeles and spending 10 days working with World Football Daily. And after that, they invited me back to do the summer to cover for Martin [Rodgers]. And then it just kinda went, rolling on from there really. It never felt like work. You get up at 5:30 in the morning driving to LA, but you don’t feel tired, you feel buzzed and ready to go, and you just wanna talk football with everybody.

Ogo Sylla: Having worked in broadcasting, doing match commentary and punditry as you host World Football Daily, and writing, which one do you prefer?

Oliver Wilson: The thing that I love doing the most is radio football commentary. There is such an adrenaline rush about trying to put down everything you see. Because when you do radio football commentary, people can’t see, you’re painting the picture for them and describing everything. But also keeping the description moving and flowing as the game goes on. And it’s amazing. Once you get into that flow, once you get into that rhythm, you just can’t stop. And I think radio broadcasting in general is the thing that I prefer the most. But I think that my radio work has always come a little more naturally to me, and I’ve always really enjoyed doing it. And I think it’s a really fun way and it’s a great way, especially with modern technology, to connect with people as well. And I think it’s something where audio bytes, podcasts, little video segments on websites are gonna become more and more popular and people are gonna become more and more popular; people are gonna take in their sports information more through audio and video.

Ogo Sylla: Well thank you very much Oliver Wilson. It’s been a pleasure and great talking to you.

Oliver Wilson: Thanks very much Ogo, it was an absolute pleasure. I hope I didn’t waffle on too long for you there mate.

Ogo Sylla: No, it’s been great. Thank you very much.

Oliver Wilson: Cheers man. 

Ben Resnick- Staying Invisible and Playing an Important Role

Anonymity is part of Ben Resnick's job.  As a Coordinator of Hockey Operations for the Minnesota Wild Resnick is responsible for as he puts it “making other people’s lives easier at the end of the day,” while staying nearly invisible to everyone outside of the club.

Resnick is an important part in the everyday operations of the Wild.  One of the key parts of his job is making sure everyone is paid correctly and on time.   He needs to make sure he has a grasp on what players are traveling, injured etc.

“That stuff, well fun’s not the right word for it,” Resnick starts to explain from his office in St. Paul, MN.  “It’s complicated because the physical location of a player on a given day matters.”

Resnick spends the rest of his time mostly filing paperwork for player transactions, and contracts but without Resnick the Wild would be in trouble.  Contracts and things like qualifying offers are crucial parts of the everyday operations of an NHL team.  When they are not filed properly they can result in the lose of a player.

As part of his job Resnick has to help double check to make sure that every offer is correct, and all paper work is filled out properly.

The Hockey Operations Coordinator for an NHL team must manage and help oversee many different aspects of life in an NHL front office.  Whether its helping make contract offers, managing payroll, or making sure players have their per diem on the road, Resnick is always doing something to help the Minnesota Wild run smoothly and put a solid product on the ice for the fans.

The daily grind of the job is not always glorious but Resnick enjoys the job.  Sometimes in professional sports it is the invisible people behind the scenes that are do the important daily tasks that allow us to watch our favorite players take to the field of competition on a daily basis. 

Interview Transcription:

IB: Thanks for doing this again.  Going back a little to what we talked about last time.  Just talk a little bit about what your job is working in Hockey Operations for the Wild.

Ben Resnick: Sure uh, I think we mainly talked about stuff during the season which is the interesting stuff. But my job is sort of at the end of the day is to make other people’s lives easier. I manage a lot of things like paperwork with the league, we talked about the contract process is pretty long because the league has a strict set of rules set out by the CBA.  And you can always call the central registry and check with them.  If we sign a player you have to send copies to the player, to the league, back and forth. I think it’s a 22 step process I keep on my desk I have to send every contract through.  And then if we send players up or down to the minors or if players have injuries and need to be put on IR or just have injuries and they are physically unable to perform we file paper work with the league. Most that stuff usually falls to me.  I also coordinate with our payroll department to make sure all the player payroll is done correctly.  And that stuff is well, funs not the right word for it.  It’s complicated because the physical location of every player on every day matters because state and local taxes vary depending on which team you’re playing against.  If you play in the city of Pittsburgh for example you pay state and local tax, but in some other location like in St. Louis, you only pay a state tax. So not only do we need to know which players on the roster and what time the team travels but if a players hurt he might not travel at all.  That’s another separate thing that I have to keep track of. So I usually have a decent handle on the NHL side of things because I’m around everybody and I’m filing the transfer forms but I get some great help from great guys that work for our minor league team that’s moving to Iowa.  The PR guy and the broadcaster are great to email me and let me know who travels with the team. Who is healthy, who’s not.  Where the team is on what days.  Without them I wouldn’t have a shot to do it.  They’re important, very helpful guys. 

IB: So do  you also take care of all the payroll stuff for the AHL club as well?

BR: So Minnesota owns the AHL club. So at the end of the day we are responsible for the payroll of nearly everybody that’s associated with the AHL team.  We even do paperwork for, sometimes in the minors unlike the NHL you can do a loan agreement between teams where let’s say a player is not going to get a lot of playing time with one team.  He can be loaned for one month or two months to another team in the league.  It doesn’t happen a lot but it happens every once in a while and if that’s the case he’ll usually still get paid by the first team because he hasn’t been traded.  There just saying he’s just going to play for a different team so he can get some time in and get some games in. And then there can also be agreements between lower leagues. If you’re going to have players come up to fill up the AHL roster from the Coast League of the CHL but in general yeah. I’m good at tracking all the players that are playing for Iowa or Minnesota. So it works out at any given time to be give or take around 50ish.

IB: Going back to the NHL side of it. What are some of the things you have to do, I know last time you mentioned tendering an offer to a restricted free agent. What are some of the things you go through each offseason when you start the process of tendering offers to those guys that are RFA’s?

BR:  So the first thing we do is we  make sure we actually know everyone that actually is going to be restricted. So we actually make a list and check with central registry to find out which one of our players is going to be restricted free agents, who is eligible for arbitration at this time.  Once we have that list we are going to have to make a qualifying offer to each player. The qualifying offer is dictated by the CBA and it depends on how much money you made the previous season. For most guys in practice a qualifying offer gives them a 10% raise.  If you’re making over a certain thresh hold, and I don’t remember the exact number so don’t quote me on this but I think it’s a million-five but it could be a little more or a little less.  Then they don’t need a raise they just need to be given the same amount.  So to do a qualifying offer you do up a letter that tells the player this is their formal qualifying offer.  It’ll pay them this NHL number and this American league number, depending on which team they would play for.  And then you want to make sure that that form is correct to a T. It’s just like a contract except if we  screw up a contract and you send it to the league they’ll reject it and say this is not a valid contract. Here’s why you, and you guys need to update it.  I would say in general maybe a half dozen of those a year happen.  And sometimes it’s a typo like an extra zero somewhere or something. Sometimes a contract would put the team over the number of contracts they can have.  Whatever it is the league will let you know and you can work with the player and the agent to take care of it.  With the qualifying offers once you send them off, if they’re wrong it gives the players an avenue to fight to say that you have not fulfilled your obligation by the CBA and that they should become unrestricted free agent, which is pretty bad.  So you want to make sure you don’t lose a player.  You can send a copy to the central registry and say hey does this look good to you guys.  They will say yes that’s what you’re required to offer them and that’s a valid qualifying offer. And the way we do it and I think it’s a great way to do it.  Everybody in the office wants to double check each other.  Specifically for qualifying offers we have two different people come up with lists saying here’s what each offer should be.  And two people read every offer before we send it out.  So the process from there.  You send them to the players.  The players have a window to accept or reject.  As soon as the players  receive that letter they are going to be restricted free agents. So when free agency opens up either you have a right to match the contract or get compensation.

To listen to the entire interview click below

https://soundcloud.com/psweeneyny/interview-with-ben-resnick

Mike Antonellis: Following Your Heart

Copyright © 2013 by WJJB FM

By Andrew Pogar - "Just like a diving board," Mike Antonellis says. "Just jump right off and go in."

Mike Antonellis had just stepped through the front door to his Old Orchard Beach, Maine home after announcing a Sunday matinee Double-A baseball game in Portland when we connected over the phone.

Despite being at the ballpark for the entire day, Antonellis was extremely friendly, affable, energetic, and knowledgeable when we spoke. While I was intending on interviewing him between four to six-minutes as instructed, our conversation lasted for nearly an hour in duration. The flow of our discussion was natural. There was never a dull moment where Antonellis signaled that he had to go. I am very grateful for the time he was able to give me. 

Antonellis says his rise to prominence as a play-by-play announcer has been an odyssey that started when he was a teenager. Antonellis grew up in Ashland, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. An avid baseball fan, Antonellis gravitated towards sports broadcasting after touring the campus radio station at Dean College. 

"I just remember walking down that hall and being like that's what I want to do." Antonellis said.

After graduating from college, Antonellis says he picked up equipment, worked as a bartender, and also held positions in sales, marketing, and media relations to help get his foot in the door.

Throughout the hardships and the thoughts of failing, Antonellis says he never second-guessed what he wanted to do in life. 

"No part of me ever felt like well, if I didn't get to the big leagues would I still be happy doing this?" Antonellis said. "Of course I would." 

Antonellis says he continued to follow his heart.

In 2005, Antonellis was hired as the full-time radio play-by-play announcer for the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Although Antonellis is content with his current position, he says he is open to advancing his career. 

As a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, Antonellis says his ultimate goal would be to work behind a microphone at Fenway Park.  

That is where you'll find him make the biggest ripples in the pool. 

 AP: After graduating from Framingham State College in Framingham, Massachusetts, what were your options in terms of employment?

MA: Well I was very lucky to, excuse me, to seek an internship while at Framingham State at a small radio station in Milford, Mass-AM 1490 WMRC which I kind of-it was kind of near where I grew up and I kind of knew they did a lot of local stuff but the one thing that they did that no one really does that's around baseball is they did legion baseball. So I had a chance to get in there and do a lot of stuff with them and then asked about doing games and they actually already had somebody as their lead guy and he was nice enough to let me do color with him and I got to do innings of play-by-play and I took care of all the equipment and that was kind of my first job but I paved the way to that through school and then when I graduated I worked there for two more years you know part-time, semi-full time and just did a bunch of other jobs on the side and then I stayed there two years and made fates and got an internship in '97 and that's kind of how it started but I-what I thought would-for me was I tried to find a place where I could get into doing something that I wanted to do so I-while a lot of people were picking big you know places to intern I said why not go somewhere where I think I'd be able to do stuff and I think I made the right choice. It worked out and it was a terrific-terrific place to work. I-I still you know really like those people and still think about them to this day because they really-they gave me my start.

AP: Well you've dedicated about twenty years of your life working in radio and that includes seventeen in professional baseball. What was the turning point where you realized the trajectory of your career was headed in the right direction?

MA: I think it's just because of how I feel about it. I mean I really love the business. I mean I love baseball too and I-I've always been somebody that if it's something I like and something I believe in I put a lot of backing into it and I really-it's like having a excuse me-like having a meeting with yourself. I mean I just knew like I can-I think I can do this. You know I didn't know where it would go. I mean I didn't but I knew that I had the skills and it came-I'm not going to say it came easy but it came natural where I think it's because loved it. I remember being able to just do sportscasts without even ever done them but I think it's because I had listened to them for years, listening to BZ or just reading the sports-I mean I used to read the sports pages at eight or nine years old I mean so I was-I knew how to write game stories so I was kind of exposed to it for a long time growing up loving baseball, loving radio, loving TV, and loving all of that and it just-it felt great. It felt natural and I think more than now than ever I realize how much I love it because I don't feel any less fire in my belly when I go to work and I still have that fire and passion and desire and I love it to this day and I've done thousands of games and it's-it's never worn off.

AP: But were there times where you had reservations about what you were doing?

MA: Sure. Absolutely yeah. Big time...

AP: What went through your mind?

MA: That I failed because I wasn't in a network or I didn't get to the big leagues. You just feel like a failure but it's stupid to think that because you know I look at where I am now and I'm from New England and I have a job for one of the few New England professional teams. You know not just baseball. I mean there's not many of these jobs overall. And I never-no part of me ever felt like well if I didn't get to the big leagues could I not-would I still be happy doing this? Of course I would. Some people aren't. Some people if they don't get to that certain level they're not happy but I am. I mean I love doing these games. I love this level. I love being with the Red Sox. I love the people I work with but yeah I mean I think you-its natural yeah and I got down and it's hard like a lifestyle-to have a personal life sometimes. It's a lot of travel. The money for a while wasn't great. I've finally been able to do okay being seasonal. I've been able to really pick up other things so then after all that I realized jeez I'm doing all this stuff in the offseason now I'm making a pretty good paycheck where I can actually spend some money. It's made the baseball even more enjoyable and I have no problem if I stayed here for the rest of my life.

AP: Are you still, I know that you mentioned that you very content with where you are at in your life but are you still looking to advance your career?

MA: Yes. Yes. And I think it's helped-there's been at times when I've been here where I said well I'm fine if I didn't do anything else but that's not fair to me almost. I think it's good for any kind of broadcaster or performer-I think you see it in all facets of entertainment especially actors to try something different and I tell a lot of people do something that you're afraid. I mean I've done some things that I've been afraid of and it's good. You need to shake it up or I'm doing more TV now and I read off a teleprompter which I never done and I was nervous and I'm like that's good. I mean it's good to be nervous. But yeah I mean I'm going to look. I mean if it's something opened up that was a better opportunity I would yeah definitely go for it but I have a pretty good situation here. I'm very lucky for this level to have the situation I do and to work for the people I do and they allow me to be seasonal and they really take care of me in a different way I think and being with the Red Sox and all that too. I mean there's a lot of other attachments that are fine with me being here. I'm closer to my family and I'm in Maine and Maine is a phenomenal area to live in so yeah I feel like I'm in a good situation right now.

AP: Flashback to February of 2005 and how were you able to land the job working as the play-by-play announcer for the Portland Sea Dogs?

MA: That's crazy. I mean it's one of those stories again. It would all kind of stem from when I left-I mean I left Syracuse on Easter Sunday in 2000-I was only there one year so it probably was 2000. It was 2002. I got a job in Cape County within like three weeks of finding out in Syracuse that the the team-the radio station was not going to keep the Chiefs and they were only going to let one announcer work at both and I wasn't one of them so I got a job in A-ball because I wanted to stay in baseball and I remember driving to Illinois from Syracuse on Easter Sunday just saying what in the world are you doing-you know I was really down. I mean I drove there on a Sunday and the season opened on a Thursday. And it was tough. I mean the first couple months there were tough because I really had only worked for one team. I was at the station for that one year and it was-I didn’t mind picking up and moving and meeting other people because that all falls into place but it was-that was far. I mean I moved to the middle of the country but it was baseball and it was a little rocky at first. It was tough kind of settling in and I took over for a big league-for a guy that went to the big leagues and he was pretty popular so that was hard but it was good for me though. It really kind of-it really helped me build a pretty good exterior for certain things and kind of maybe be aware of other situations with that and I became really good friends with this girl in the office who knew Todd Jamison, who was the voice of the Sea Dogs at the time. So she used to just mention Mike as the radio guy here and then in 2003 I got the job in Erie and we finally met when Portland came into town and he told me like I might leave here would you be interested in maybe coming aboard and I did and we worked together for a little bit of 2005 and then he had some personal issues, some health issues with his wife and he left and I got the job full time but it's crazy had I never-all that stuff didn't happened I mean I wouldn't be here. I mean it's really kind of strange how it worked out and I actually interviewed for the internship in '97 and was a finalist for it for the Sea Dogs so to get that job was you know I thought I was taking the worst turns off exits getting myself kind of lost and you know it's kind of I don't know there's some irony in that or there's symbolism I went pretty far to come back close but it worked out. It certainly worked out. I mean it's weird. I sit back sometimes and I-when people ask me that I'm like it's crazy how I ended up here. I mean it really you know some of its luck but a lot of it is that I continued to do it and that was kind of a low point when I left Syracuse because I really was doubting if I was doing the right thing and it proved to work you know and it shows sometimes you have to go through some really low and it's not low-low but it's scary and lonely and it worked out so-but it still you know just thinking about it-it's crazy.

AP: To conclude our interview, what advice would you give to those who have your same aspiration?

MA: Believe in yourself. I mean it's kind of lonely when you are going after this because you have to kind of-you have to bite the bullet on a lot of things. I mean you do have to maybe take an internship somewhere you don't want to. You have to go through it not making a lot of money and you're going to have people in your ear telling you ah you can't work somewhere like that but it has to be if you really want to do this you have to just get into a zone and do it and then not worry about what people think. But you just have to-you have to really commit yourself to it. I mean I think the people who are really successful in it are committed to it. I mean it's a career but it's always going. I mean I'm always thinking of it even on off nights or off days. It's you know I think it's got to be something that you just love. If you want to stay in it forever you have to have the drive and desire to really want to do it and all the other stuff should matter. You know I mean I wasn't crazy about moving right away but well I mean I should say when I started getting into it more but that first time I was all for just sticking up and moving to do this. I didn't care at all because I wanted to do it so bad so you kind of have to have that because it's not for everybody and I have no problems with people who have reservations about those other things because it is a big commitment and I think some people don't get it. It looks fun and it's extremely fun and and it's extremely gratifying and it's awesome but you do have to to realize that you are committing a lot of your life to it and it's not-some people that's hard to do and that I understand but if you love it and want to do it just go forward and go all in. Just like a diving board. Just jump right off and go in.

To listen to the interview click here.

To listen to the interview in it's entirety click here.

 

Wisdom and Passion from Hugh Kellenberger

Hugh Kellenberger

The life of a modern journalist

Hugh Kellenberger says his interest in journalism was sparked when spent his childhood in Sacramento, California reading both of the city’s newpapers. He started out at The Rocky Mount Telegram, where he says he was given a chance to explore the passion he developed for sports while in college at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

“I like the exciting part of sports,” he says. “That kind of attracted me to it.”

Today, Kellenberger is the Ole Miss sports beat writer for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi. He says the relationship between news media and athletic departments is about give and take, although the athletic departments may try to control the flow of information.

"A lot of times, what's really happening is stuff that is probably good for them to let other people know about," he said. "And then there's that five, ten percent of stuff they rather not have printed, but it comes along with it."

Kellenberger says the most challenging part of working as a writer is that he’s always on the job, engaging social media and writing for a sports blog. He says journalism no longer has a definite work day, thanks to the internet.

“I think of myself as someone who writes for the internet,” he said. “We happen to have a newspaper product.”

Although social media is important to engaging audiences, Kellenberger says relying on social media presence can become a hindrance to aspiring journalists.

“I would tell them not to worry one little bit about their brand,” he said. “If you do good work, if you ask questions, if you write well, if you're engaged in multimedia, and engaged in an honest way, I don't think you have to worry about what your brand is.”

Kellenberger says the best way to build a reputation is to let your work speak for itself.

“Your brand will be that you're a trusted, respected part of the media,” he said. “People will want to hire you.”

Read the interview transcript here:

Norman Seawright: To start us off, could you tell me a little about what made you want to pursue sports journalism?

Hugh Kellenberger: Yeah, I started reading the newspaper when I was, like, seven or eight, and it wasn't just, like, one newspaper. I lived in Sacramento, which was still at the time a two-newspaper town, and we got both newspapers, so I would sit there in the morning and read about the Sacramento Kings at, like, eight years old, so I imagine it was kind of always in my head. I didn't really think about it, though, until probably high school. That's when I first started kind of getting interested in journalism, and really didn't have any idea what kind of journalism I wanted to do until probably my junior year of college, where I just kind of fell into sports and really kind of liked it, and liked how there's always a narrative. Somebody wins, somebody loses. Somebody's up, somebody's down. It makes things compelling all the time and not so procedural; "well, this was the monthly budget meeting," which can be very dry. I like the exciting part of sports. That kind of attracted me to it.

NS: Talking about jobs, what is the most difficult part of your job?

HK: Probably now, the most difficult part is that you're always on. We're talking and it's 7:30 on a Tuesday evening, and I'm just starting the fire to make dinner for my family because I got pushed back because I was waiting on a police report, and something else happened, and I gotta update a story and write a blog post and tweet about it, and that stuff is not atypical. Things don't happen on a convenient nine-to-five schedule, and I think there was probably a time before journalism where—the work they did relatively stopped for a lot of people at five o'clock because, well, I mean what else are you gonna do. If the paper was out, the paper was out. It's not that way anymore with the internet. It's created this constant grind, so that's probably the most difficult part. It's really rewarding and I love it, so I don't want to sound like I hate the internet because I think of myself as someone who writes for the internet and we happen to have a newspaper product, but I think it changes the job and certainly adds some stress.

NS: Talk about the relationship that you have between yourself and the newspaper, and the school that you cover.

HK: You know, I would say overall it's a good relationship. I think it definitely has its trials and tribulations at times. There's times that we do things that they don't appreciate, and there's times that they do things that we don't appreciate, so there's that constant tug of war, and they start to try to control their own media to a bigger extent. I think that's only going to happen with some more regularity, but I think overall we have a good relationship because I think the people that I deal with the most at Ole Miss seem to understand that there's a reason why I'm there and that I'm going to ask tough questions but it also means I'm going to write what's really happening and if they have that trust in you, I think they understand that. A lot of times, what's really happening is stuff that is probably good for them to let other people know about, and then there's that five, ten percent of stuff they rather not have printed, but it comes along with it, and so I think if both sides have a good respect for each other, which I think is the case, then I think it'd be a positive working relationship.

NS: So, it's a lot of back and forth, then. Give and take.

HK: Exactly. You can't just sit there and hammer, hammer, hammer all day long. Number one, there's not enough stuff that any college athletic department does that requires you to be hammering them 24/7, 365. At a certain point, you're digging and hammering just to hammer, but I think there are times when you are telling the good stuff and telling stories about people, namely, and when you do have to hammer it's justified and they know it's coming and they're okay with it. Well, more okay with it then they would be if it was the opposite direction.

NS: What would you tell a young, aspiring journalist who just wants to get into sports and that's their passion.

HK: I would tell them not to worry one little bit about their brand. I don't really know what a brand is, it's kind of become this niche thing, and I think it creates more problems than it [solves]. If you do good work, if you ask questions, if you write well, if you're engaged in multimedia, and engaged in an honest way, I don't think you have to worry about what your brand is. I think it takes care of itself. Your brand will be that you're a trusted, respected part of the media and people will want to hire you. I think on the flip side when you become more infatuated with your twitter account and your number of followers than what's happening on your twitter account then I think it can lead to a lot of dangers. That's one of the things I tell a lot of young journalists like, "don't be the guy tweeting the press conference, be the guy asking the questions at the press conference."

NS: So just let your work speak for you.

HK: Yes, exactly. If you let your work speak for you, you'll be fine. Everything will take care of itself.

Listen to the interview here:

The Yes Man

When Zachary Hall was younger, he dreamed of working in professional sports. While he worked in various little leagues, Hall says he developed a passion for family entertainment. This led him to his dream of taking it to the next level. But getting to where he wanted to be would prove to be more difficult than he could even imagine.

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to Hall on the phone. He called me from his office in Chase Field as he was getting prepared for the night's game. It appeared that Hall was able to turn his young dreams into a reality.

In 2007, After getting rejected by the entertainment team for the Phoenix Suns, Hall tells me that he felt dejected. But luckily for him, there was a silver lining. The Suns were connected to a minor league hockey team called the Phoenix Road Runners. And they asked Hall if he wanted to work for them. Hall quickly agreed.

Before he knew it, the Road Runners’ mascot quit. The team asked if he would take on the job. He said yes.

Then the Phoenix Coyotes’ mascot was fired. Hall said yes again.

A few weeks later, the Diamondbacks released their mascot.

What do you think Hall said?

As the full-time mascot for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Zachary Hall, also known as “D-Baxter,” says that he loves what he does. On a daily basis, he clowns around. He signs fans on the forehead. He flips into pools. He’s been to all-star games, children’s hospitals, and all across the country.

“In this costume I feel like I can do anything,” he says.

---------------------------------

Interview with Zach Hall transcription (shortened)

PS: I’m here with Zach Hall, who is the man behind D-Baxter, which is the Arizona Diamondback’s mascot. Zach, I just wanted to know, how did you get involved doing this?

ZH: I started working in little league every since I was growing up. I have a passion for family entertainment, and realize that right after working at a family facility, that I wanted to work for the next level, which was professional sports. So I saw an audition announcement on the Phoenix Suns website for their in-game entertainment team. I auditioned the first year and did not make the Suns’ entertainment team but there were other opportunities within their organization. The Suns owned a WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury. They rented their arena for an Arena Football team called the Arizona Rattlers, as well as an ECHL minor league hockey team called the Phoenix Road Runners. So, the gentleman interviewing me said you know, you didn’t make this team but we’d still like to hire you and develop you. Would you be willing to work for a minor league hockey team? And it’s one of those situations where you see an opportunity and you say yes, and you put your hard work in, and worked my way up and worked for minor league hockey as an in-game host, a puck patrol in-game entertainment member. And one day the mascot didn’t show up, they offered me a few extra bucks to do it for the night. Next thing you know, they let that guy go and I became the guy there and just kept saying yes to opportunity. Which led me to working for the Phoenix Coyotes as their mascot when they fired their mascot midseason in 2008. So that was an opportunity that I said why not? About a few weeks later, the Diamondbacks released their mascot, and the opportunity to apply came and I went from being a part-time entertainer to a full-time mascot.

PS: What’s the most rewarding part about the job?

ZH: The fact that no matter what kind of day, or what’s going on my life, I can put on a costume, and just have the most fun, the idea that there are people that come to a baseball game that might come to one game a year, or come to every game, or just the fact that if I throw them a shirt or sign an autograph on their forehead, or throw them a baseball, or give them a hug or a high five, like, there not going to get a chance to meet baseball players everyday, but the fact that through being interactive and fan friendly, I can make an impact on someone that not only brings happiness to their life, but also does a good deed for this organization in building a fan base.

PS: As the Diamondbacks’ mascot, as D-Baxter, you represent the team maybe #1, do you feel any kind of media pressure, I mean, you represent the team in the media, how do you deal with that kind of pressure that you’re somewhat, you know, your somewhat the face of the Diamondbacks?

ZH: I don’t know if I ever do feel that pressure just because it’s one of those situations where I do my job everyday whether there’s one fan in the stands or 50 thousand. Knowing that I do the same job every single day, whether we’re playing the Yankees, the Dodgers, or the Pirates, or the Reds. I just go back to my job everyday is to be interactive, sign autographs, and do my training. I need to be cognoscente of different fan bases or ways to interact cause you don’t want to offend anybody or while running around the ballpark you don’t want to be blocking anybody’s seat. It’s definitely not much the pressure everyday but it’s just more so to hark in that energy no matter what. And being able to go out there and get the job done.

PS: Would you say that there’s a certain feel or an art to being a good mascot?

ZH: I mean it’s definitely an art. I always tell everyone this who asks me how I do it? Non verbal improv. So I have a weird personality where everyday I just come up with something new. You have to think on your feet. If somebody boos you, you lift your jersey up and you moon ‘em. Or if someone is clamoring for your attention from the other team, maybe you silly string them, or maybe you throw popcorn or peanuts. It’s one of those things where it’s non verbal improv and you have to be able to communicate using so many non verbal gestures-- hand gestures, body gestures, dancing. Shining somebody’s forehead. Just constant non verbal improv. So it’s very weird. I’ve never been formally trained. It’s just one of those things where you roll with it unless you YouTube videos of other mascots. But at the end of the day it’s just constantly being creative.

PS: What would you say over the course of the time as being D Baxter is your favorite moment or favorite event as the mascot, behind the mask?

ZH: So as the mascot a couple moments were pretty cool for me-- the fact that I’m an Arizona native, so being able to go to places I went to as a kid, whether it be a spring training or in 2009, my first year, I got to go to the All-Star game in St. Louis that was also the performance at the stadium. Going to phoenix children’s hospital for the first time and doing visits for kids that i’ll never know. I don’t know what these kids are going through. I was there and I did a visit in the hospital room with a young man and when I left his mom just gave me a big hug and started crying.. it made me start crying. And I’ll never know this woman and she’ll know me. Just being a mascot, at the end of the day, my job is just to push the bar. And I can do whatever I want, wherever I want to a certain degree. So things like Opening Day 2011, I got to propel from the roof into chase field. Opening Day 2013, I did back flip into the pool on opening day. Three years ago, so in 2010, two days before my birthday, I went to an appearance here in Phoenix, in downtown Phoenix, for the special olympics, and I was told the appearance was special olympics, just hang out, and I was like okay. When I get there, I had to repel down a 19 story building. And I was not prepared and I’m afraid of heights. Yet in this costume I feel like I can do anything. And I repelled down a 19 story building in downtown phoenix, raising money for the special olympics. So not only did I get to break a personal fear of mine but I was also doing something for a foundation that looked forward to it, it was incredible.

PS: Alright Zach, thank you for taking the time to talk to me today

ZH: No problem, thank you so much.

The Game is Only Part of the Story for Mike Waters

                             


For Mike Waters of the Post Standard, sports writing was never really the job he had dreamed of doing when he was a kid. "I don't know if I ever 'decided' this is what I was going to do for a career, its just what I did and I kept doing it and had fun with it" Waters said. Growing up an avid sports fan, Waters enjoyed everything from basketball and football to wrestling and swimming. He started writing stories for sports in high school for his school paper and has not stopped since.

Having worked at the Syracuse Post Standard for over 20 years Waters, a native of Tennessee and UNC alum,  has become a part of the community. He even takes pride in his occasional showdowns with Jim Boeheim, notorious for being 'prickly' with the media. "If he and I don't have a really good, nose to nose argument a year I'm not doing my job" he said with a grin.

One of his most memorable experiences was covering the 2009 Syracuse-UConn 6 overtime game in the Big East Tournament. He watched one of the most epic college basketball games of all time played on the grandest stage in the Garden. He remembers the game a little differently then most fans though. The near finishes and buzzer beaters and clutch plays were thrilling, but Waters was waging his own battle as he raced to get in a story before deadline.  

Waters has seen almost everything during his time covering Syracuse hoops. Big East titles, NCAA infractions, a National Title. What seems to interest him the most though are the stories behind the games. The players involved, or the surrounding circumstances. Story telling and real journalism. Maybe that's why he never dreamed of being just a sports writer.

Donato DiRenzo: The following is an excerpt from my interview with Mike Waters of the Post Standard. For the entire 45 minute interview check out my Twitter @DonatoDiRenzoII

DD: Can you maybe tell me one or a couple, memorable or special, anything that really sticks out like kind of a cool moment in your career?

Mike Waters: The six overtime game is a game that always sticks out to me and not just because it was a great cool game the same way SU fans remember it. I don’t remember it exactly the same way. I mean first of all I’m a reporter everything’s based on history and uniqueness. That games incredibly unique.

I love the six overtime game for all the little things that happened there ya know that Kris Joseph not playing at all until the overtimes and then when he did go in he played center and he was going up against Hasheem Thabeet. And this was Kris Joseph before he was really Kris Joseph he was only I think a Freshman that year.. Yeah he was a freshman that year so here he was as a freshman 6’7” he’s going up against 7’2” Hasheem Thabeet. You know the fact that it almost never happened because of Devendorf’s shot at the end of regulation, if it had been a split second sooner we all go home. But from a journalistic perspective what I really liked about that night is a couple things. It showed where both the paper was still important and yet social media and the website could enhance how we covered an event.

I was there with Donna Ditota and Bud Poliquin, neither one of them got a story in the paper. I barely made the paper. That game ended at like 1:22 or 1:24 in the morning and basically from the end of regulation through every single overtime I’m writing running. I’m erasing leads, deleting leads pushing them down and rewriting stuff, at the end of every single regulation things would change. Andy Rautins would hit a three to send it to the fourth overtime and stuff so I’m constantly rewriting half the time I’m not even looking up. Donna is telling me play-by-play as I’m still writing because she’s sitting next to me and basically it was like near the end of the fourth or fifth overtime, were constantly on the phone with the editors back here and finally they said ‘1:30 is the drop dead’ were not gunna get it in the paper, were just gunna have to send us what you got and we’ll run it with a little note saying the game did not end or it was tied at the end of four overtimes or it was tied at the end of five or tied at the end of six. Whatever’s the last thing we can get in 1:30 the drop dead. And then of course Syracuse takes over in that sixth overtime giving me a little bit more time to craft a story. I use the term craft loosely because you’re not crafting much because you’re still on this tremendous deadline.

But because they did open up an eight or ten point lead I’m able to write a little bit and we got a story out. We got a story with the final score and everything in there. And the Hartford Current didn’t and it was kind of like our little win that night too. The Syracuse Post Standard got the story in and got it out to our readers and most other papers did not. But then what happened is me Donna and Bud we stuck around, we were at the Garden until 3:30 4:00 in the morning because we were still able to go to the locker room, go to the post-game press conference, get quotes write stories and post them to our website.

So there were people waking up at maybe 6 in the morning the next day that maybe didn’t stay up for the whole game, or even those that did maybe woke up at like ten in the morning, but they were able to go to Syracuse.com and they got a better written game story from me with quotes they got Donna’s sidebar, they had Bud’s Column. We had notes that Donna and I had combined on. I mean everything that you would have normally seen in the paper with a regular game at 7 o’clock start you still had it all online. And people really went online that day.

And then what we did was throughout that day, because Thursday night was the quarterfinals so when they won that game the next nights the semi’s they weren’t going to play again until Friday night at 7 or 9 o’clock. So we had all day and because of the intense interest in the game, we kept feeding them stuff to our website. Calling people getting their opinions ‘what’d you see about the game’ you know stuff like that. Calling former players, calling analysts. Me and a photographer sat down and we went through like the five key moments of the game with his photos and me writing extended captions and we put that up late in the day. It ran in the paper too, but it went on the website first. That was new, so it was really kind of an interesting marriage or cross section of how the paper was still important enough to us that we really busted our butts to get something into the paper and there’s something, there’s a thrill to writing on deadline.

That was cool. To get something to all those readers that were going to subscribe to the paper or pick it up on their way in to work. But then there was something that was really eye opening about how we were able to use the website that night. So that was a cool game. Not just from the fact that it was a great game and all this stuff, also it was a really cool game in terms of journalism.

DD: Syracuse, like any other program, has had its black eyes in the past. Devendorf, Billy Edelin, Deshaun Williams, names like that. How do you cover when they’re not the most easy to cover kind of topics?

MW: Yeah those are sort of the stories that you don’t always think of when you first sign up for this gig. But their important. If it involves a player obviously its important story because it might involve if the player will be on the court on Saturday.

Going back to Michael Carter-Williams last December busted for shoplifting. Although they never wanted to use that word because they were able to, they tried to sneak it past us. They hamhanded it The University really screwed up on that they let Mike talk without talking to him and when he tried to say it was a misunderstanding, well some people out at the mall weren’t really happy with that label they were like ‘wait a second misunderstanding that could make it sound like we profiled him or that he didn’t shoplift.’ Now all of a sudden because of him just using that poorly thought out phrase, I had a good story at the end of that week where I had two sources from the mall, sort of from the mall say, no yeah he shoplifted, got it on camera saw him go in exactly what he took you know stuff like that.

But that story was important because was he going to get suspended, was he arrested by the city police or not. It was just overall another black eye for the program and those stories are good, it shows you’re not just a sports writer covering fun and games. If you are going to get into this you gotta be prepared to be a news reporter, and all that news surrounding your beat is important.