On Mr. T, homer announcers, and more

Despite my employment in another professional sport, baseball has enjoyed a rejuvenation of sorts as my first love and passion this year. That’s thanks in part to the MLB Network, which got me pumped for the season and helps keep me updated when Baseball Tonight gets pre-empted for crap like NBA Live and other sports programming. With a fortunate day off on Memorial Day, I had a day full of baseball, so here we go:

College baseball

I watched the NCAA selection show at 11:30, and here’s what I came away with:

1. Rice got a slightly raw deal, but I’ve been saying all year this team is not that good, so I can’t really feel too offended. I haven’t been following the college game closely all year, but Rice was mentioned as a potential No. 8 national seed, yet it somehow got paired with No. 3 national seed LSU for a potential super regional. That would indicate a No. 14 national seed. Seems a little odd. But again, Rice lacks pitching depth and (a) probably does not deserve a particularly high seed on a national level and (b) therefore is better suited for super regional play (two wins needed, three games max) than regional play (at least three wins needed, five games max). That could give Rice a fighting chance if it gets past the regional, where Kansas State is very solid. I was pretty impressed with LSU, however, in the little bit I saw on TV.

2. Biased selections throughout the bracket. As many Parliament posters have pointed out, a Big XII bias was fairly evident (the committee chair was a deputy commissioner from the Big XII and WAS allowed to discuss his own schools, in a departure from past protocol) from the inclusion of bubble teams Oklahoma State and Baylor and some other decisions. I did think the committee chair made a fair comeback to the ESPN guys by saying Rhode Island didn't win the regular season or tournament titles in its conference, but it's not like the regular season champ, Dayton, fared any better. Anyway, I may see through mid-major glasses due to Rice’s status in other sports, but I really get a bit tired of seeing the seventh- and eighth-place teams from power conferences.

3. Flat out illogic. UC-Irvine, ranked No. 1 in most major polls, won the Big West championship (no postseason tournament) by five games over Cal State Fullerton. Five games! That’s a lot in conference standings. And Irvine lost only two games in a strong conference that included another tourney team in Cal Poly. Yet Fullerton got a No. 2 national seed and Irvine a No. 6. I know there are other factors, but when you have two teams head-to-head, don’t you have to favor the team that finished higher in the standings and won the season series? Bizarre, especially since Irvine's strength - conference play - is more recent than Fullerton's strong start.

Recreational baseball

Feeling a need to do something – anything – outdoors on such a beautiful day and badly in need of physical activity, I called on CPL and suggested a friendly game of catch. Here’s what I came away with:

1. Wow, have my skills deteriorated. Almost as much as the inside lining of my favorite glove. Throwing the ball on target was a task. Repeating my mechanics was a task. Running after the ball if I missed it was a serious chore. Pretty depressing.

2. There’s something to this repetition thing. It’s not enough to know how to do something, you have to do it over and over until it’s natural and easy. As an example, I need only to hearken back to college softball my senior year. I think I made six errors in the first two games, which we lost. But having gotten the repetitions out of the way, I was error-free in the next two games, and we won. There’s no substitute for practice.

3. I really like playing catch. That was always one of my favorite parts of playing baseball: the relaxed nature of warming up, as you did something that is actually pretty difficult (as I remembered today) but was easy, casual, and second nature for you. Just hanging out talking and playing catch, even with the lack of skills we displayed today, is a blast.

4. I’m getting old. I can’t believe it’s been four years since I took groundballs during a professional batting practice with Yakima and three years since I shagged flies in a professional outfield in Alexandria. I really could use some sort of recreational baseball team to play on.

Baseball on TV

We also went for about a mile run, by the way, so I feel good about having done something active on the day. Naturally, I came home, showered, ordered a pizza, and plopped on the couch for the evening. Lo and behold, I turned to baseball, and here’s what I came away with:

1. I hate homers. Not home runs, but biased hometown broadcasters. You may think this odd, since I am one, and since almost all local radio/TV broadcasters are employed by their respective teams. But there are lines I feel should not be crossed, and the use of the term “we” is one I feel strongly about. Everybody listening or watching knows you’re in the camp of the team you cover all season. It’s pretty much an unavoidable consequence of spending 76-144-162 games with that team. But somehow using “the Owls” or “the Aces” instead of “we” makes the broadcast sound immeasurably more professional. The White Sox TV guys are the worst, as I heard when their broadcast was picked up on MLB Network. Not only does their home run call include the celebratory “Yes!” (no cheering in the press box!), but I heard them repeatedly say “we,” even out-cueing an inning with “we’re up by four as we go to the second.” Ugh. Couldn’t listen to them. So I switched to the Cubs-Pirates game on WGN, which brings me to …

2. Bob Brenly doing color. Yikes. It’s a sad day when Bob Brenly is the better option at just about anything. But a fun game (Freddy Sanchez went 6-for-6 and made a great grab in right field), a close game, and announcers who don’t say “we.”

3. Mr. T. Doesn’t seem relevant to baseball, right? And it really isn’t. But he was pretty hilarious. The Cubs had him for the ceremonial first pitch and to sing “Take me out to the ballgame” at the seventh-inning stretch. He basically yelled it, more or less staying within the rhythmic confines of the music and the fans’ singing (He should have said “three strikes, you’re out, fool!” but didn’t). He joined the Cubs’ broadcast team for the bottom of the seventh and constantly sounds like he’s playing a character. He grunted any time something went good or bad for the Cubs, just with a different intonation to let you know he was alternately pleased or pumped. He told a charming story about getting booted out of Prairie View A&M even though he was on the Dean’s List because he was homesick for his mother (huh?). But he was pretty endearing. Very earnest about being a celebrity with a positive influence, which you have to appreciate.

The bottom line

What I really came away with from Memorial Day: I love baseball! (Insert MK-style chortling here). From Little League to high school to college to the minors to the majors, I really do love the game. It’s there for you every day, the little things add up over the course of a season, there are endless opportunities for debate and disagreement, and the routines are great. Those are just a few of the things I love about the game.

Broadcast #11 - vs. San Jose

We certainly looked good on the field Saturday night (3-1 win at home), but I’m not sure how good I sounded on the radio at times. I had a couple people ask me how my game went, and my answer was: “I’ve had better.” Not to go all Jim Carey, but I just didn’t feel I was on my game. I think I called the goals and big plays OK, but all the little moments in between probably didn’t have the touch or eloquence that I aim for.

There was some water in the broadcast booth from pre-game rain, and between dealing with that and joking around with my engineer, I don’t think my preparation was very good. I just wasn’t locked in when it was time to start. I couldn’t even think of a corny game intro, which I usually think about shortly before going on-air, even though I don’t write it down or anything.

On the pre-game show itself, I remember doing a decent job of setting the stage, although I haven’t listened to the tape. One main problem, in hindsight, is that I plugged San Jose playing a 4-3-3 because I didn’t think about it long enough to remember one of their forwards would probably play midfield. Another is that I misunderstood the timeline and started to introduce the lineups, only to realize the national anthem was about to start and I had to out-cue immediately. Not a good feeling.

My Keys to the Game, which I did jot down during pre-game and then ad-lib just before the game, turned out to be on the money, so that was a nice bonus. My No. 1 key was taking control of the game in the first 15 minutes, and my third key was set pieces. While I couldn’t imagine that the Dynamo would score twice from set pieces in the first 12 minutes (!), it felt good to nail those two points on the money.

Another issue for me during this broadcast was the live reads. I felt like I missed a few sponsored elements (sorry, BK, I made up for it!) early, and I felt like I didn’t introduce some of the others at the right time. I was able to talk about Brad’s Brigade for the May 30 game and some of the other game-based promotions, but I definitely remember going on a bit too long about the June 10 game.

The second goal was a fun one. Again I talked about Holden making a decoy run and went straight from there into the play itself. I was especially pleased with my post-script, as I was able to say “Brad Davis serves them up; Brian Ching and now Kei Kamara swat ’em out of the park,” an idea that only came to me as I watched Kei celebrate with a baseball-bat swing. Then I couldn’t resist a “Take that, Nick Garcia!” moment for Kei.

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Getting back to those in-between moments, I also worry that I didn’t do a good enough job of painting a picture. I’m usually able to follow play and who has the ball, but I think after the opening minutes I could have done a better job of reiterating the colors and sounds of the teams, the field, and the fans – basically, I could describe the atmosphere more.

Halftime was definitely a low point for the broadcast. We had a man down on the field with our head coach, Dominic Kinnear, and were set to interview him, but he could not hear us! Dom’s microphone was coming through to us, but something was malfunctioning with his headset – apparently the battery – and he could not hear us, so we exchanged some “What can you do?” gestures from field to press box, and he headed to the locker room.

The third goal, also the result of a corner kick, although not so directly, was a little more challenging because there were a lot of bodies in the area. I was able to pick out Geoff Cameron and his header correctly, and then Waibel was turning the ball in, so I ended up going with a simple “Craig Waibel … FINISHES.” It’s just instinct on those calls, and that’s came into my head. I mostly couldn’t believe Waibel had scored in his first MLS start of the season, so my next words were “Craig Waibel, how ’bout that?” – a subtle, though unintentional, tribute to all the Mel Allen baseball highlights I’ve heard.

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After the San Jose goal, things got a little bit frantic, as I tried to deal with figuring out an official scoring decision – what assist(s) should be awarded on the San Jose goal – while still broadcasting. I was texting, talking, and e-mailing people trying to figure that out, and I’m not going to lie, it took a bit of my focus away.

The post-game interviews went fairly well, I think, as I talked to Brian Ching and Brad Davis. The post-game show went OK. There was no “Lizards” misspeak this time on the scoreboard this time, thankfully. I had to ad-lib a bit to give our post-game call-in host time to get from the TV booth to the post-game radio show, but the timing actually worked out perfectly, as I sent it to him about 30 seconds after he arrived outside the locker room.

So I walked away a little disappointed with my personal performance in parts of the broadcast, but obviously the team’s performance was way more important, and I took solace in goal calls I thought were pretty decent.

Broadcast #10 - at New York

Continuing with my New Jersey / New York report with the game.

Well, giving up an 88th minute goal while playing up a man is never a good feeling, so I think everybody in orange walked away with a sour taste after the 1-1 tie. But for me, it was pretty cool to broadcast a game at Giants Stadium. I grew up watching NFL teams play there, and I worked there as an intern in 2002, so it's a home of sorts to me. Even though it's not a great facility for soccer, given its size, it's pretty neat that I got to broadcast a game there before the Red Bulls move into the spectacular Red Bull Arena next year. I tried to take a picture to capture the moment (or the moment after the moment, since I was off the air by this point, and the stadium was empty), but I think it looks pretty crappy.

I felt I had a pretty strong game - set some personal goals as far as giving the score and minute often, and I think I did that. My boss said he listened to some of it and thought I was really strong in the first 10 minutes, particularly by giving the score and minute. I did pretty well with some saves and both goal calls, although I probably didn't get to all the storylines I wanted to.

Overall, though, a pretty decent game. I'll post a clip of the goal once I get the full audio file from our radio station. I went with "to Wondolowski ... FINISHES!" for the goal call and wrapped up the highlight with "what a big goal!" I don't know that either will be a catch phrase (second time I've used the 'FINISHES' line) but I'm really sick and tired of trying to find a goal call. I'd rather just be natural. For the New York goal, I was really frustrated, so I think I ended the call with "you've got to be kidding me."

Hey, when you work for the team, you're allowed to be a bit of a homer.

Anyway, I wrapped up a solid broadcast by saying "Kansas City Lizards" on the post-game show instead of Wizards. Whoops. I corrected it right away, of course, but I thought it was a pretty funny slip of the tongue.

NJ trip - Delbarton and the W Hoboken

OK, Delbarton. I went up to school on Friday, which is always a little awkward when I hardly know anybody there now. Several times, though, I saw kids in the hallways and thought, "I know that guy," when I don't think I've known anybody for a few years. Do our students really change that little over the years?

I talked with my high school soccer coach, then went to check out construction on the new track to go around the football field (long-awaited at my high school) and the new soccer/lacrosse field (artificial turf, but otherwise cool). I took pictures with my BlackBerry for the first time to illustrate the point (actually, I wanted to show my parents, but it works out well this way).

Then I talked to the current hockey/baseball coach before watching the baseball game on the new field. It is to be dedicated next week in memory of the former baseball coach, Brian Fleury, who battled Hodgkins for years before dying last year. He had worked hard to raise money and build the field, and I really could feel his presence. It sounds corny, but I just thought about how happy he would be, and it really gave me some peace. He still has an intense influence on the program, and the number 18 is stitched into the fitted back of every player's hat.

Another Delbarton story: At the team hotel (the W in Hoboken - it was more like a club than a hotel), I had to explain why I wanted to check out late on Saturday, so the receptionist asked where I was from. I said Morristown, and it turns out she's from Randolph. But she asked what high school I went to, and when I said, "Delbarton," she went, "I knew it!" Apparently my hair was so "coiffed" that she knew I had to be a private school kid. Absolutely brutal. I knew I should have gotten that haircut the day before!

The hotel was really OOC, though. I arrived on a Friday night at about 11, and the place looked and sounded like a club. I really wasn't sure I was at my hotel! The room was really nice, and it had this weird circular loveseat in a window nook overlooking the Hudson River and lower Manhattan. I really had only one word to describe it: pimp.

Of course, it had a number of issues. One being the windows in the lobby. They were so clean that, in the course of waiting 15 minutes for the team bus, we saw not one, but TWO people walk square into the window thinking they were going outside. It was hilarious! Both times the person just kind of staggered back, then proceeded out the door as if nothing had happened. One staff person would run after them to make sure they were OK, while the rest would look around the lobby and giggle uncontrollably.

Good times.

I'm back ... with a report from New Jersey / New York

So I've decided to revive this blog for the time being. I'll use it to write mostly about my soccer broadcasting and travel, probably, so we start off with my trip last weekend to work (calling the Dynamo at Red Bulls game on Saturday) and not work (visit with family, celebrate my father's birthday, see my first game at the new Yankee Stadium).



First, Yankee Stadium. The new one. I went to my first game there on Sunday, accompanied by Eric, Della, my mother, and my mother's sister, who met us at the game. What a stadium! I totally loved it. I think watching a game there still feels like Yankee Stadium - the white facade on the roof, the dimensions of the field, the blue outfield wall - but without the cramped, uncomfortable seats, ridiculously steep stairs, and narrow concourses. The stadium appears bigger than the old stadium despite its smaller capacity; that fact easily explained by the increased number of suites and cushy seats behind the plate ($2,500/game! Ridiculous!) and a serious increase in handicap-accessible seating.

There are a ton of food options at the new stadium, including Johnny Rockets, a barbecue place, sushi, Asian noodle bowls, pizza, and more typical ballpark fare. I got two hot dogs from a vendor, and they actually cost me less ($10 for two) than they would have at the concession stands ($12). My mother and aunt said the concourses actually have sightlines to the field from the lines for food. The scoreboards were a bit hard to find at times, but I think everybody will get used to them pretty quickly. I appreciated the detail on the out-of-town scoreboard and the closed captioning for feature videos.


When I go home, I usually find Delbarton people I know popping up in random places. On this day, it was a Rice person. Looking down from our seats three rows from the top of the upper deck, I saw Jon Schumann - former A&E editor of the Rice Thresher - walking up into the section. Of all people! Schumann doesn't really like baseball, so I never would have expected to see him. Although he lives in New York, so it wasn't totally illogical. We caught up briefly, although neither one of us had much to report since we just saw each other at Beer-Bike.

Sports Disclaimer: Skip the next three paragraphs if you don't care.

The game itself was really interesting. A.J. Burnett (on my fantasy team!) and Kevin Slowey kept both teams hitless through three innings, and the game was scoreless into the seventh. The Twins went up 2-0 in the eighth, with my mother ragging on Joe Girardi for not pulling Burnett, and me defending him based on the Yankees' shaky bullpen. A-Rod went deep in the 8th, and the Yankees found a way to tie the game with a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly.

The Yankees had a great chance to win in the ninth, with the speedy Brett Gardner on second and one out. Cervelli, the usual catcher, came up for his first at-bat and rapped one up the middle. The ball caromed off the pitcher's glove and rebounded to the first-base side of home plate. The Twins' catcher, Joe Mauer, ran out to pick up the ball but had no chance at first. He looked to first, and when he did so, Gardner raced for home, gambling that he, running 75 feet at full speed, could beat Mauer, running 35 feet from a stand-still in catcher's gear. Mauer won, diving to block the base and make the tag, and the game remained tied. We were debating whether or not Mauer intentionally faked to first, and after watching the replay that night at the airport, he definitely did. Great play.


With my flight at Newark at 8 p.m. and a long drive to get there, we were set to leave after the 10th inning (roughly 4:45) if nobody won. But Johnny Damon (I had just seen Fever Pitch on TV, so I kept thinking of that scene where the woman stands up and talks about how cute his butt is - YouTube knock-off here) hit a walk-off homer in the 10th, the Yankees' third straight walk-off win. It had a certain aura of inevitability to it after the Yankees tied the game, since we had been talking all game about walk-offs (A.J. Burnett slapping shaving cream in the face of the hero on three straight days, trying to explain to Della why walk-offs are exciting, etc.) I think she may have gotten the point about walk-offs.

End sports section


So we sang along with Frank Sinatra to "New York, New York," and Eric and Della did some dancing (maybe they'll post the video), and we headed out. Only to sit in line for the parking ramp for about half an hour before we finally started moving. After a slightly impromptu drive through Harlem and across upper Manhattan, my mother found the George Washington Bridge rigth where she expected it to be, and I made my flight in plenty of time.


More on the New Jersey / New York trip to come later.