Gameops.com: What is SportsAnnouncing.com?
SportsAnnouncing.com: SportsAnnouncing.com is a site I created to help fellow and would-be P. A. announcers, music personnel and other game ops staff with ideas on different aspects of game production. The site was created because when I first got started announcing in 1992, there wasn’t anyplace to find information on how to announce sports let alone what to play and when.
I’ve been doing game operations since 1992 for youth sports to major professional sports. During that time, approximately 98% of the events I have done I have done both the announcing and music, a skill which surprises a lot of people. When I’m doing one or the other, I often find myself getting bored and my ability to see a lot of things happening at once kicks in.
I’ve done baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, field hockey, inline hockey, volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, track-and-field, kart racing, wrestling, gymnastics, cheerleading competitions, and broom ball. Currently, SportsAnnouncing.com has provided game production at 67 different arenas, stadiums, and race tracks throughout the world.
Gameops.com: Who have you been targeting your work towards?
SportsAnnouncing.com: My “Guide” work is aimed toward everyone from the first-timer who is just thrown behind the mic for any level of sporting event to collegiate athletics to major professional sports. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been “in the game”, you can always learn something new and that’s the basis behind the website and The Announcer’s Guides.
My announcing work is targeted at anyone who wants to have a professional announcer at their next event.
When did my first JV baseball game in 1992 while a freshman at W. T. Woodson High School, I had nothing but a boom box, microphone, really old amplifier and a sheet of paper. On the sheet of paper, it gave the basic jist of what to say to start a game. That and the knowledge of going to local Minor League and Baltimore Orioles games is all I had with me. I developed a style that resembles the late Rex Barney (including his signature “Thank Youuuu” at the end of games) and Tripp Morgan (from the Prince William Pirates/Yankees/Cannons).
Once I got going and had SportsAnnouncing.com up and running, people were always asking me about what do I say in this situation, how do I announce this sport and that’s where “The Announcer’s Guide” was born. I had notes on several sports and in the fall of 2003, sat down and wrote out all of what should be said during games, how to say it, and in some cases if you should say it. About a year later, the idea to record examples and include a CD was suggested to me. So now each guide comes with an audio CD I recorded with examples on how to announce everything in the guide.
The guides have been purchased by everyone from the youth football parent looking to get started to NCAA D-I schools to professional sports teams.
Baseball, basketball, football and ice hockey are all currently available with volleyball, wrestling, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey coming out next. I’m still putting the final touches on them but hope to have them available by January or February.
Gameops.com: Where are you now and what do you do?
SportsAnnouncing.com: I moved to Portland, Oregon March following a hockey season that allowed me to announce about 200 games from squirt house to junior elite and MLRH. In March, I was able to announce a game in Maryland (Bowie Ice Arena, Bowie Bruins), Washington D. C. (Ft. Dupont Ice Arena, D. C. Police Hockey Team) and Virginia (Dulles SportsPlex, MLRH D. C. Mad Dogs) which was a lot of fun.
This past spring and summer I was the music director for the Portland Beavers (AAA-affiliate of the San Diego Padres) and the Portland Timbers (United Soccer League). During the course of the season I was able to announce for both teams while also doing the music. This season I was able to set two personal marks, the first was the largest crowd I’ve ever announced in front of (nearly 8,000 for a Timbers late-season game against Richmond, another SportsAnnouncing.com client) and the second was I have now announced for all 30 Major League franchises affiliates (Montreal/Washington is the same team) when Colorado Springs came to town in August. Next year, I’m hoping to get back to the DC area to do one game for the Potomac Nationals to hit the 31st team.
I’ve been announcing on the professional level since 1998 when I worked for both the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (music) and St. Petersburg Devil Rays (Florida State League , music & PA). That year I also announced some games for the Tampa Yankees (Florida State League). Since then, I’ve announced for the Charlotte Rangers (Florida State League), done music and P. A. for the Auburn Doubledays (New York-Penn League), Modesto A’s (California League), Carolina Mudcats (Southern League on a fill-in basis), and Potomac Cannons (Carolina League). I’ve announced an entire season at all three advanced-A leagues in Minor League Baseball. The Washington Capitals have also called upon me to announce some group games held at the MCI Center. These are games between two teams who sold tickets to a game to get the right to play on the ice at the MCI Center. In between, I’ve announced for the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League (‘02-‘05) including the last three championship games, the Maryland Scholastic Hockey League’s playoffs (’05) and the last two National Capital Hockey Tournaments in Washington D. C.
Jarrod’s Top-10 Tips for Sports Production
The Top-10 I would have to give my dad credit for on a lot of them. He helped guide me to the announcer I am with a lot of the same tips I’m putting down here.
#1. Have fun. If you have fun, the people around you will have fun. This goes for the PA announcer and host who sounds like they are having fun. The game ops staff who are having fun in front of the fans will encourage other fans to have fun. For those who are on the mic, smile when speaking because it does come through over the sound system. For those not on a microphone, smile because it’s contagious. This is the number one rule at SportsAnnouncing.com, have fun.
#2. Treat each game/event, like it is THE most important one going on at that moment because it IS the most important event going on at that moment. The players have put in a lot of hard work to get where they are, the fans have taken time out of there day to be there, and in most cases, you are getting paid. If you would rather be at a basketball game instead of at the baseball game, then go to the basketball game. If you'd rather catch the all-star game on TV than be at the game between the two last place teams, then go home. People will appreciate you giving your effort night-in and night-out and never "taking a night off" or "going through the motions".
#3. Get pronunciations and mention names. You'll find this tip in the different versions of "The Announcer's Guide." There is nothing worse than getting someone's name wrong, get with someone from each team before the game and get the correct pronunciations. If you do get a name wrong, don't worry about it. It happens but make sure you're prepared enough to know that you'll get it right the next time.
#4. Non-partisan does not mean non-enthusiastic. If you are chosen to announce for a tournament of some sort where the announcer has to be "non-partisan" or "impartial", don't be the down-quiet type that so many announcers thinks is so cool to use for visiting teams. First, it kills any enjoyment in the fans and makes you sound bored which will in turn, make you and the fans bored. Second, it sounds bad. Teams are vying for a championship and they are getting a bored announcer. Be upbeat and happy. You may miss out on an opportunity to really announce a fun name. This will keep the fans excited and get you excited in a game that may not mean anything to you. One member of "The Forum" did an ice hockey tournament whose final game went to overtime tied at one between two teams that were based more than two hours from the rink. "That was one of the most exciting games I've ever seen," said one fan. Now imagine if that drab, cold rink with a few fans was done quietly and with no enthusiasm. People would've left saying, "I'm glad that's over".
#5. This tip goes against anything your mom, dad, teachers and pretty much anyone older than you ever told you but read all the way through. Don't plan your game. In fact, that even goes against a previous tip but here is the explanation. If you pre-plan everything you are going to play, you may miss a great opportunity to get the fans going or to try out a new song. Face it, if you're team is getting killed late in the game (pretty much any sport), your fans aren't really going to dance to YMCA, unless you did such a great job the fans don't care about the score (which is possible and has happened). This would be a good chance to try a new dance song to see if it might fit into your rotation. It's ok to plan here and there, just don't set everything in stone or you could miss out on some good things. This season, we were getting blasted 10-0 in front of 15,724 (in a 19,000+ seat stadium) and yet the fans were dancing more at the end of the game than they were at the beginning. The Macarena even made a comeback!
#6. Give your team some identity by picking a welcome song. A welcome song is one that should be recognizable as well as popular so fans can easily identify it. The welcome song welcomes the team back to the ice, field or court and is best noted by college fight songs when the football team returns to the field. People hear the song and begin to recognize the team is back and it's almost time to start the game again. Very, very few pro teams do this but should. It's a little bit of easy customer service. For the Washington Jr. Nationals, the song was Opus’ “Life is Life”. For the Beavers it was “Kickstart My Heart” by Motley Crue. The best example I’ve seen of this was when the Fresno Falcons (of the then WCHL) used “Thunderstruck”. Not only did it let the fans know the period was starting, but it got the fans pumped too.
#7. Never shout into a microphone. It is sometimes ok to raise your voice into a microphone but never shout. It is more irritating to hear someone scream that it is to hear them talk in real life. On the mic is no different.
#8. This one is for all of those sound guys out there who want to strangle someone for doing this. When testing your microphones don't bang the top of the microphone. This isn't good for the mic and sounds bad. A simple, "Microphone check, 1, 2, 3" will do you good. This provides you the chance to see if you're speaking too hard into the mic and to make sure you've got the proper volume. If you're not satisfied, read a P. A. announcement and adjust from there.
#9. Variety! How important is variety? Very important to fan enjoyment. Figure to yourself that every day is opening day for someone, but it's also someone else's 10th, 20th, 30th, etc. game at your site. Mixing up the songs makes it bearable for those who have to work there as well as the regular fans. And don't just mix up pre-game, do the in-game as well and mix up the other delay music. Don't keep using the same bit for the first coaches meeting, second meeting, etc. Shake it up a little. Laziness is something that can happen easily, especially when someone is given carte blanche and nobody supervises. Each night is different, each crowd is different, why keep the same things?
#10. Edit our Foul Language in songs (the quick way). Are you troubled by foul language in some songs? Well, one Forum member was and found a great solution, turn the words around. Open the song with the foul language, find the section, then reverse that section. In some programs like Cool Edit, it's simple, highlight the section then reverse. It'll keep the same song but keep in mind it might be noticeable so pre-view your selection before you use it in public.
Thanks to Jarrod for his time and support. He is a long time reader and contributor to Gameops.com and we thank him for his interest and insight.
Thanks also to Jadira Ruiz...just for being fabulous.
