Why Sports Reporters Need to Know All Sports

Video Transcript

"I'm Jamal Spencer for Expert Village, here at ABC 3 here in Lansing, and we're going to talk about how to be a successful sports broadcaster. In this clip we're going to talk about covering sports that you're not really comfortable with. I have to be honest. It's going to happen to you. If you get into this business, you're lucky to last a long time, even a short time. You're very first job, you might say, "Hey, I love the NBA." They're like, "Fine, go cover golf." You might have to go cover bowling. No knocking golf or bowling, but the average American doesn't know a lot about golf and bowling. So, when you're unfortunate enough to have to cover a sport that you don't really know a lot about, the most important thing is pronunciation. Hockey is a prime example. I have a boss who can't stand hockey at all. Or soccer. And as you know, there are a lot of international players in those two sports. So, when it's time to do a report, if you don't have practice saying the name, "Abachoff" may come out as "I back off" or you know etc. etc. Or "Ronald Denio" may come out as "Ronald McDonald". You have to be aware of the pronunciation of international players' names in sports like tennis, golf, hockey, soccer. When you don't like a sport, you have to try that much harder to prepare yourself to cover it because it doesn't come natural for you. It's something you know not that much about but you have to be professional. You have to cover it anyway. As I mentioned, my boss doesn't like hockey, doesn't like soccer, doesn't like tennis, doesn't like a lot of the sports that are most popular in the world, but as a reporter, you are obligated. It is your job to report these things and do them well. So, like I said, you have to prepare yourself. You have to study the names before you go on air. Before you interview someone, you have to know how to say their name correctly. That's very key. That's a turn off right there when you go to interview someone and you say, "Hi, so and so," and you get their name wrong. They're not going to want to talk to you. So know how to pronounce people's names, you have to be able to be comfortable talking about something you know nothing about which comes with preparation. So you prepare yourself, you'll be comfortable on air and you never know. The more you talk about it you may come to like it. Curling may become your new favorite sport. When you have to report something you know nothing about it's about preparation, it's about being poised, and being confident and its something that you can handle."