Looking back at 2009 road broadcasts

This will be mostly broadcasting related ...

One of the things I love about the job is how each trip and road game stick out in my memory for specific reasons. Every game had some story or difficulty that made it memorable, some for the better and some for the worse. I'm focusing here on the process of simply getting on the air, which is often easier said than done. Have a look:


March 3, Cancun, Mexico
My first road trip on the radio, my first trip to Mexico, my first road broadcast setting up by myself. A lot of firsts. Tested the equipment - using a phone line - at Monday's training session, and things worked fine. Come Tuesday night, I get to the game and get set up OK, then wait for the station to dial me. And keep waiting. Finally I hear from them via phone - texting and email worked, but calls didn't, if I recall correctly - and they say they're having trouble. On-air time is quickly approaching, and I'm panicking and sweating and nervous. Finally we get connected right around kickoff, but the engineers say the sound quality coming through is so bad that they can't put us on the air. To make matters worse, we go down 2-0 in the first half. I pack up the gear by halftime and seethe through a frustrating second half. No broadcast, a 3-0 loss, AND elimination from the tournament - not a good way to start.

March 28, San Jose, CA
For this game, I have followed the pattern of my predecessor and hired an engineer from the Northern California area to run the technical aspects of my broadcast. He does a great job, even providing an assistant to run a microphone down to the field for interviews. The game sounds great, but we lose 3-2. This trip is most memorable for being scheduled so early in the season, thereby denying me the chance to (a) meet my niece, who is born less than a month later, and (b) see the A's play.

April 4, Washington, DC
In a trip most notable for the always fear-inspiring lunch with the future in-laws on the day of the game, I again hire an engineer on site. This guy is a friend who used to do our broadcasts and just moved from Houston to DC, so all is comfortable as he sets up. Of course, his girlfriend is running the remote mic, and she can't get anybody on for an interview because they're frustrated after a 1-0 loss. We also find out shortly before going on air that we're on a different station, which infuriates me because we promoted back in Houston on the main station. First of many.

May 3, Foxborough, MA
By this point, I've decided the hassle and cost of finding and paying a locally based engineer is not worth it, and I can engineer the games myself. After all, I set the machine up fine in Mexico, the problem was with the phone line, right? Not quite so simple, as it turns out. I arrive with the team, 90 minutes before the game, but have trouble setting up. I'm not sure which line is the ISDN line, if I need a special cord, what type of service the location has, how SPID numbers work, if they need extensions, etc. etc. I get more nervous and more nervous as the pregame show approaches. The machine keeps reading "SPID error," which means I can't get on the air. Minutes before the pregame show is scheduled to start, I switch one setting, the machine magically shows "Ready," and away we go with the broadcast. All goes smoothly. I have solved the problem of road broadcasts and saved us money in the process.

May 16, East Rutherford, NJ [trip entry]
This trip is best remembered for my Friday-night arrival at the club/hotel in Hoboken with dim lighting and thumping bass. Not to mention visits with family and friends. But as for the broadcast itself, I truly don't remember a lot. I believe I went through some of the same problems as the previous trip, but I quickly made the same adjustment as last time and was able to connect. Calling a game from Giants Stadium was a true thrill, even if we allowed a last-minute goal to tie instead of win.

June 5, Bridgeview, IL
Oh boy. Not a fun one. Despite my best efforts, even when the machine reads "Ready," I cannot connect to the station in Houston, either by dialing them or by them dialing me. I can't even connect through a regular phone line. I am completely panicking by this point, and the game starts without me. We score in the fourth minute, which is great for the team but horrible for me to have missed a goal. I finally borrow a phone and connect with the station, calling the game through a regular phone instead of our equipment. This means no headset, just a receiver cradled against my neck. The on-site technician comes in and tries to help me connect properly while I'm on the air, but she can't connect either, and it just winds up that fans back in Houston can hear me giving her instructions. We win the game, but it is not a good night. This is failure as an engineer.

June 13, Frisco, TX
I'm a little nervous for this one, having failed in my previous attempt, but I blame it on the ISDN line in Chicago and move on. I have to toggle that setting, as I did in New England and New Jersey, but I am able to connect. Bizarrely, the machine does not show me as connected, but I am, and the game goes without a hitch. We win 3-1 against a hated rival, move into first place, and all is well with the world.

June 28, Carson, CA
All is not well with the world. Despite RBG's uplifting presence and seeing my brother in LA, the U.S. blows a 2-0 lead and loses the Confederations Cup final, I struggle setting up the broadcast and call the game via phone, and our 11-game unbeaten streak ends with a dour 1-0 loss. Just like in Chicago, even when the machine says "Ready," I can't get on the air, so I use the backup plan of a phone. At least I'm on for the full 90 minutes this time, but it's a sign that something needs to change. Also our first of what will become seven straight road games, so I need to figure this out ASAP.

July 1, Austin, TX
The only driving road trip we make all year. Knowing in advance I will be working on a phone line and not ISDN in a high school football pressbox (we're playing a minor league team in a tournament), I go on the early bus with the trainer and equipment manager (leaving four hours before kickoff) to give myself plenty of time to set up. Remarkably, all goes well with the connection, even with a phone line dropped out a window from one level of the press box to the next. Except for a second half infestation of bugs and me giving scorekeeping orders to our stats guy while on the air, all goes well in a 2-0 win.

The meeting that may have changed my season takes place between these two games (I think), as I go to the radio station and look over the equipment with my primary engineer. He explains that the setting I used for successful broadcasts in New England, New Jersey, and Dallas really should not work. I've been doing it wrong, finally getting punished in Chicago and LA. It is ISDN or bust.

July 4, Kansas City, KS
One of the best trips of the year by far. Kansas City BBQ, a Royals game the night before, a clean broadcast, a win, and some greasy diner fare. Gotta love it. I again take the early bus and this time have significant problems. I troubleshoot differently, knowing I have to figure out the ISDN SPID problem, and with help from the Kansas City media people, eventually figure out that they gave me the wrong SPID numbers. Fixing that, I'm good to go and still have two hours before kickoff. I will be taking the early bus for the rest of the year!

July 7, Charleston, SC
A weird one. Once again playing against a minor-league opponent, the weekday game starts so early (6:30 CT since we're on the East Coast) that we're pre-empted for Houston's main sports talk show. I'm also calling the game from a glass box (with ripples in the glass) with only a stick mic pointing out a vent for crowd noise. Connecting via phone line goes fine, and I call the first 30 minutes of the game to nobody, only doing it for highlights, and am relieved nobody hears me call a shot "well high" only to see it go in. I am later relieved that the TV guy did the same thing. Once we get on, 30 minutes in, all goes smoothly in a 4-0 win.

July 11, Seattle, WA
Working in a modern NFL pressbox, the only difficult part about connecting is figuring out which line is correct. Once I do, I'm good to go and can enjoy the league's best radio booth view and best atmosphere. We lose on a questionable goal-line call (I all but shook my fist at the reserve Seattle players in the booth next to me) that proves very costly at the end of the year.

July 18, Toronto, Canada
We actually get a week off between games for once as we fly north of the border. LG and I leave before the team and connect through Newark, while they fly nonstop. We all arrive at the same time. Set up for this game was a pain in the rear as well - once again, I'm pretty sure the ISDN numbers were wrong. I eventually get connected, but the darn connection dies at around 50 minutes after the hour, so I get cut off during the halftime and postgame shows. Bizarre. We pull out a heartening 1-1 tie.

[trip entry]

July 21, Seattle, WA
We're all just a bit tired at this point as we fly directly to Seattle (I get in trouble for not giving up an exit-row seat) for the Open Cup semifinal. Once again, I take the early bus, but this time it's not enough to help me. In a smaller facility, I'm left to connect via phone line, and for some reason, although I connect to the station and can hear programming, they cannot hear me. I eventually am reduced to calling the game by phone once again. Which is hell, since I'm outdoors at the top of the stands with crazed Seattle fans and media and the game goes to overtime. I had quite a crick in my neck, a tickle in my vocal cords, and a lump in my throat as we lose 2-1 in overtime.

August 6, Frisco, TX
A return engagement in Dallas, this game sucks. A lot. I believe the connection went OK, using ISDN lines this time. The real problem is that I bang my ring against the window and, after the game, notice that blue has fallen out of the 'R,' making it look a lot less cool. I still haven't gotten this fixed, and it bothers me. We lose with a subpar effort and a player getting ejected while sitting on the bench.

August 15, Salt Lake City, UT
Well, this one's easy to remember. RBG and I got engaged the night before the game :-) As for the game itself, I believe this was one of the smoother connections of the year. The radio booths were set back a bit from the stands, so I ran the cord for the crowd mic along a railing to the press box and draped the mic out over the stands. We play for a tie and get it, with our GK making eight saves.

August 26, La Chorrera, Panama [trip entry 1 | trip entry 2]
This has been the subject of its own post, but what a crazy trip. Anticipating poor facilities, I bring a telephone (purchased at Target on my way to the airport) and a simple adapter for a headset. However, once I get into the setting up process, the adapter doesn't work, and I call the game by phone from a booth I share with 5-10 Panamanian media members. They're respectful and discreet, but other media members give me the equivalent of the finger after their team ties the game in stoppage time. The lights go out twice, including once as I'm packing up (scarier than while I'm on the air), but I make it to the locker room and we get the heck out of there. Maybe my most-listened-to (and talked-about) broadcasts of the year, since it was not on live TV.

August 30, Denver, CO
The game goes smoothly in terms of connection, although I have to run my crowd mic through a media walkway to get decent sound. The game itself is frustrating and disappointing, as we lose 1-0 and get another (we think) undeserved red card. But hey, I've graduated to worrying about the broadcast and game rather than setting up!

September 13, Columbus, OH
Not a good trip. I bungle my attempt to get an Ohio State-USC football ticket, and the game doesn't go well either. The broadcast booth is tiny, on the opposite side of the stadium from TV booths (meaning I'm oriented differently than anybody watching on TV and trying to listen to me, AND I'm squinting into the sun), and there are no open windows. There's not even a hole out of which you can run a crowd mic. Thankfully I pick up the television EFX feed to help the broadcast, but I spend the whole game feeling a little claustrophobic. To top it all off, we get what I think is a heinous call against us in stoppage time and my voice cracks multiple times as I protest. We lose 2-1, all but ending our chances of finishing first in the entire league.

September 16, Pachuca, Mexico
This trip was not short on stories. After getting stuck in Mexico City traffic the day before, I find it impossible to find the broadcast booth (or anybody who can show it to me) for about an hour. My limited Spanish and their limited English does not help. I tour the entire top level of the stadium twice looking for the number booth I've been assigned, but the numbers skip over it apparently at random. Finally I figure out there is a level just below it that has those numbers and I find the booth. Or suite, I should say, since there is a room (with my own bathroom) and then a door and seats in front of it. Connecting goes as well as it can for a Mexican phone line - that is, they can understand me, and I leave the equipment in the booth and stand in the doorway to call the game. 2-0 loss.

October 21, Metapan, El Salvador [trip entry]
We're then home for more than a month, so my next trip is another international one. I was more worried about this line than Panama, but the setup actually turns out to be better. I use full equipment, connecting of course via phone line after they originally tried to give me a cordless phone with no jack! The quality of the phone line leaves something to be desired, but I'm on the air. Midway through the first half in which we are blowing a good chance to advance, I hear a tone in my ear. I think we may have been disconnected, but the board op at the station was supposed to call LG if there was a problem. I keep an eye on LG and he never moves, so I call the remainder of the half. When I get to the break and try to throw it to commercial, nobody's there. I stay on, just in case I'm not on the air, but am pretty sure I've gone off. Finally LG comes up, we call the studio, and I was definitely NOT on the air. Which means my live call of our GOALKEEPER scoring from 75 yards away does not exist. Not cool. I get back on for the remainder of the game, a miserable 3-2 loss.

October 25, Carson, CA
Back in LA to end the season. Connecting goes just fine this time - learning to use the ISDN extensions after the regular 10-digit number really has become important - and all goes smoothly. We win 3-2 to clinch a favorable playoff seed.

October 29, Seattle, WA
We go straight to Seattle again for our third game of the year there. As in our first game, the NFL stadium meets my needs quite well, and all goes smoothly. The team president sits in the booth behind me listening the whole game, which is rather nerve-racking, and we pull out a 0-0 tie. I try to get an ESPN guy I know to take a picture of me in the stadium, but in the hushed whispers of a live broadcast booth, he thinks I want a picture with the two anchors. I get somebody else to take the picture.

November 13, Carson, CA
Conference championship game back in LA. I go to connect and realize my engineer - who packed my equipment this time - omitted the power cord for the main machine. The power cord! WTF am I going to do? Fortunately, the flatscreen TV in my booth works on the same kind of power cord, so I take that power cord and set up my radio equipment, then complain that the TV is not set up properly. Whoops. Lights go out twice during the game, so I have to awkwardly fill lots of time, and we lose 2-0 in overtime. Season over.

So we played 24 total away games, going 7-12-5. I broadcasted 23 out of 24 games, although I did miss portions, including goals, of two games as a result of technical incompetence. Plus the one game I missed entirely due to Mexican phone lines. And this is in supposedly major league facilities with supposedly better equipment! I missed more games in 45 soccer games than in several hundred baseball games! (It was mostly due to trying to use ISDN for better quality.) I was markedly better, however, in setting up during the second half of the year. Live and learn.

If you read this far, you really like sports. Or broadcasting. Or me. Thank you.