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Bill Walton’s 30 For 30 Should Be The First Of Many Broadcaster Films

“There have been so many talented men and women broadcasters that it’s probably too difficult to narrow down the field and then produce the episodes.”

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ESPN’s 30 for 30 series has been a huge hit for the network over the years. I remember traveling for baseball and having multiple episodes loaded for viewing in flight. Depending on how long the trip was, I would have several episodes ready for viewing to pass the time and be entertained. 

I remember watching the first one that came out in 2009, King’s Ransom, the story of Wayne Gretzky’s trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings. I was hooked. From there I’d download many of them. Some of my other favorites were, June 17, 1994, Jordan Rides the Bus, and Four Days in October. 

It has been reported that ESPN is working on a 30 for 30 on Bill Walton currently titled The Luckiest Guy in the World. It will focus on Walton’s life in basketball, from UCLA to the Portland Trail Blazers, and then on to the world of announcing. By my calculations, Walton would be the third (or fourth depending on how you count) broadcasting type to be featured. Jimmy ‘The Greek’ Snyder was the focus of Episode 6, which showed his life as a Vegas bookmaker to his time on The NFL Today on CBS. Years later, WFAN’s iconic duo Mike and the Mad Dog got their own 30 for 30 as well.

There should be more announcers featured. There have been so many talented men and women broadcasters that it’s probably too difficult to narrow down the field and then produce the episodes. So, I have compiled a list of announcers/analysts that I’d like to see featured on an upcoming 30 for 30’s. Here we go! (In no ranking order)

Vin Scully, MLB.  ‘It’s Time for Dodgers Baseball’

Scully is well known as the best play-by-play announcer in Major League Baseball history. His storytelling ability was second to none. Many have tried to imitate, but nobody will ever duplicate Vin.  

FOCUS: The move from NY to LA and his early days working with Red Barber. Also, on his partnership with the late Don Drysdale and why Scully decided to work on his own rather than bring in a new partner. 

Pat Summerall and John Madden, NFL.‘Montana…Rice…Touchdown…Whap!…Boom…Doink’

These guys HAVE to be featured together. There’s no other way around it. The two were paired together in 1981 and their partnership lasted 22 seasons between CBS and Fox. They were the perfect duo. Summerall was a minimalist, and Madden, had a lot to say, ALWAYS. 

FOCUS: How this unlikely pairing became the most recognized and well-liked duos in the history of the NFL. What did it take to get this pairing off the ground and maintain that tremendous working relationship? 

Chick Hearn, NBA. ‘It’s A Slam Dunk’

Ask anyone living in Southern California and they’ll probably tell you that Hearn is the greatest to ever call an NBA game. He called almost 34-hundred consecutive Lakers games starting in 1965. That’s nearly 38 straight seasons. 

FOCUS: Hearn was as much a part of ‘Showtime’ as Magic and Kareem were. I’d love to know where he came up with ‘Slam Dunk’, ‘Air Ball’ and ‘No harm, no foul’. The phrases live on today in basketball lingo.

Keith Jackson, ABC, Football, Baseball. ‘Whoa Nellie’

The voice, the unmistakable voice of Keith Jackson will always be remembered. Mainly as a college football announcer for ABC, he became the gold standard. With his ‘Whoa Nellie’ and ‘Fum-BLE!’ He’s also credited with naming Michigan Stadium, ‘The Big House’. 

FOCUS: The early days of college football on television, this one could even show the evolving nature of the game through Jackson’s eyes. He saw some of the greatest college football players ever and some of the greatest teams ever. 

Brent Musburger, CBS, ABC, studio, play-by-play. ‘You Are Looking Live’

From hosting ‘The NFL Today’, to becoming a broadcast play-by-play voice of football and basketball on CBS/ABC/ESPN, Musburger has been a fixture in the industry for many years. 

FOCUS: Where did ‘you are looking live’ come from? It could also focus on the evolution of the NFL studio show. The CBS show had a gambling angle way back when. The early indications that viewers wanted to know this aspect of the game. 

Doc Emrick, NBC, NHL play-by-play. ‘Waffle boarded, pitchforked, ladled, SCORRRREE!’

The wordsmith of hockey and voice of many a hockey memory. Emrick is a member of the US Hockey Hall of Fame and the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. His style is unmatched, with the vocabulary of an English professor, with no descriptions commonly the same. 

FOCUS: That vocabulary, how, where, why? This would also be a good time to find out about Emrick the man. He has always had a love for animals and frequently would rather discuss this passion rather than hockey. 

Howard Cosell, ABC Commentator, Monday Night Football. ‘I’m Just Telling It Like It Is’

How do you describe Cosell? In his own words in a New York Times piece, ‘I’ve been called arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. And, of course, I am.’ He had a style all of his own. He was famous for his interactions with Muhammad Ali, watching them interact was incredible. 

FOCUS: How would the style of Howard Cosell work in today’s world of sports? Could he have been, ‘himself’ in the current culture? If that wouldn’t work, I’d love to have an account of how Cosell broke the news of the death of John Lennon on Monday Night Football. 

Jim Nantz, CBS, Studio, Play-by-play, PGA, NFL, NCAA. ‘Hello Friends’ 

What else could the title be? His face/voice have become the signature of CBS Sports. Nantz is the lead voice of PGA, NFL and College Basketball coverage on the network. In 2007, he called Super Bowl XLI and joined a group, with Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy and Kevin Harlan as the only play-by-play announcers to call both a Super Bowl and NCAA Championship game. 

FOCUS: I’d like to know more about Nantz and his association with the PGA Tour and more specifically ‘The Masters’. It would be cool to relive some of the greatest finishes and tournaments in his time. The Tiger Woods’ wins in 1997 (#1), and 2019 (#5) could fill 30 minutes easily. 

Al Michaels, ABC, NBC, play-by-play, NFL, MLB. ‘It’s No Miracle’

Michaels is such a pro he can do any sport. He proved that during the 1980 Winter Olympics when Michaels called one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports. The Miracle on Ice team will always be tied to him. But Michaels has done so much more, like baseball, basketball and of course now football, including last week’s Super Bowl. 

FOCUS: He’s already been featured in ‘The Day the Series Stopped’ the story of the 1989 World Series being interrupted by an earthquake. I’d like to see more of his work with the Cincinnati Reds from 1971-74; and then his early days with UCLA starting in 1974. 

Kevin Harlan, CBS, Westwood One, play-by-play, NFL, NCAA. ‘With No Regard For Human Life’

Harlan is the rare breed that knows the ins and outs of calling a game and have the ability to insert some humor into the broadcast. The thing that is great about Harlan is one never gets in the way of the other. His enthusiastic calls resonate and don’t go over the top.

FOCUS: I could watch an entire night of his epic calls of people running on the field, a cat looking to score a touchdown, or Harlan calling two games at once. He’s so good and I still love one of his catchphrases ‘With No Regard for Human Life’, hence the title of his story. 

Dick Vitale, ESPN,College Basketball. ‘Awesome With A Capital A’

There probably isn’t anyone who has done more to spread the joy of college basketball than Vitale. It’s hard to imagine telling the story of NCAA basketball without him in it. At present Dickie V is in a battle with cancer. I know he’s been going through some rough times of late but he continues to inspire many, Tweeting about his experiences. All the best to you! 

FOCUS: I would love to watch the story of Dick Vitale the coach. Mainly his work at the University of Detroit Mercy, where he went 79-29 and took a Titans team to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1977. 

Marv Albert NBC, Turner Sports, NFL, NHL, NCAA, NBA. ‘Yes! And It Counts’

There really isn’t much that Albert hasn’t done. He’s been a party to some of the greatest moments in sports, locally in New York and nationally for NBC. Versatile, enthusiastic and sarcastic, Albert was truly one of a kind. 

FOCUS: I’d like to know more about what it was like calling New York Rangers games starting in 1965. He was on the radio call for the Rangers Stanley Cup-clinching victory in 1994. I’m sure there are some stories to tell in there. “Kick save and a beauty”

Jack Buck CBS, ABC, St. Louis Cardinals, MLB, NFL. ‘He’s A Winner!’

The unmistakable voice of Buck assured you that it was going to be a big game no matter the consequence. The longtime voice of the St. Louis Cardinals also lent his talents on the national baseball scene. From his ‘Go crazy folks, go crazy!’ to ‘I don’t believe what I just saw’ he captured the moment as only he could. 

FOCUS: One of my first jobs in radio was to ‘run the board’ for Monday Night Football games. The announcing team of Buck and Hank Stram were so good and so smooth together. I’d like to hear more about that tandem as they ‘matriculated’ down the road of CBS Radio’s coverage of MNF. 

Gus Johnson, Fox, BTN, CBS, College Football, Basketball, NFL. ‘Hurt My Feelings!’

Johnson’s high-energy style has resulted in a polarized response from sports fans. Catchphrases are his thing along with the upbeat style. ‘Rise and fire…count it’, ‘Cold-blooded’ and ‘Here comes the pain’ are among many he uses. He rose to prominence in the mid 2000’s after getting a shot to call NCAA March Madness games on CBS.

FOCUS: He’s been everywhere. Would be interesting to follow Johnson’s career on its many stops, then focus in on his NCAA Basketball work. Maybe also follow him through a session of doing the voicework for the Madden NFL video games. 

Leslie Visser, CBS, ABC, NFL, MLB, NCAA, Tennis, Olympics ‘There’s Nothing She Couldn’t Do’

Lesley Visser was a trailblazer. Visser spent a decade as a reporter with The Boston Globe before making the jump to television work, where she’s the only broadcaster, male or female, to work the Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series, Triple Crown, Monday Night Football, Olympics, Super Bowl, U.S. Open and World Figure Skating Championships. 

FOCUS: You could go any number of ways here, just spanning her career achievements would be riveting enough. The struggles she went through to pave the way for future generations of female broadcasters would also be interesting to see. 

Others in the mix: Joe Buck, Mike Tirico, Bob Costas, Harry Caray, Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy, Jim McKay, Jack Brickhouse, Bill Raftery, Beth Mowins, Doris Burke, Hannah Storm, Frank Gifford, and Don Meredith.

There you go ESPN, I’ve done the hard part, now it’s time to get moving on these!

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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