By. Nathan Cram
Photo from: http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com
Sports can be found everywhere. The United States and all other places around the globe have great passion for sports. It brings people together knowing they can cheer for their favorite teams, and boo the teams that they despise. Sports is fun no matter where you go. It is like an international language that everyone knows how to speak. Sports has another side. The side that not a lot of people see, but it is at every sports event that you see live or on TV.
Sports broadcasting is something that fans don’t necessarily see, but they hear it whenever they turn on the TV or radio. These broadcasters do play by play and color commentary for any sporting event. They make it possible for the fans to understand what is going on through a TV set or a radio. Some people think it is an easy job, but if you have a passion for sports, it is relatively easy. But there are a lot of things that actually go into performing a successful sports broadcast.
Game Notes/Preparation: When game day comes around you always want to be ready. It’s not just talking about the game that is going on at that moment. You need to know the players names, which is a hard enough task in itself. There is also season records, team stats, and individual stats that you need to have in order to continue talking about a certain game. It is always good to get the information ahead of time so that you have an overall understanding of who the players are before the game starts.
Understanding Sports: In sports broadcasting having a good background knowledge of most sports is really helpful. Being able to quickly understand and learn about each sport is a really key skill to have in this type of work. Being able to go into any sports situation with a basic understanding of the sport allows for the broadcast to sound smooth and efficient. Each sport has a different pace. Basketball is typically one of the fastest sports because the ball is always moving and there is less time per quarter. Football is a slower pace sport because there is more time taken between each play. Being able to understand these sports and understanding what is going on will really help in the long run.
Talking: Now this may seem a little silly, but learning how to talk properly is key to sports broadcasting. Being able to talk while the game is happening and knowing what is going on can be difficult and can take a lot of practice. This can also go with the understanding sports category because the more you know about a certain sport, the better off you will be when it comes to talking about the sport. Each sport has a pace and keeping up with that pace is a good thing to learn. There will always be time during the game where nothing is happening, whether it be a timeout or between innings, knowing how to talk in those situations will really help in this work field.
Now all of these things are good things to know when it comes to sports broadcasting. But one thing that you should also remember is that it’s sports. It is suppose to be fun and that’s how it should be. If you remember this then you will succeed in this profession.
