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" Chapter 1MY MISSION STATEMENT M y philosophy on sportscasting isn't too complicated. In fact it's common sense. You have to be informative, you can't be silly, but you can be entertaining. I have always felt that television is an entertainment medium and sportscasting is part of that.
Face it. All the scores are the same. All the games are the same. Most of the stories on television are the same. The difference is how you present them. I have always tried to find some kind of humor in the story. Now there's a thin line here. It has to be natural and it can't be offensive. You can't just make fun of somebody just for the sake of doing that. It can come out cruel. The key is to be clever when you throw in the good line. You can't be malicious or have a vendetta against someone. You aim to be light but to the point. I picked this up from my parents. They were in vaudeville, show business folks, and we used to watch television and my father, especially, could find something funny in any show, even if it wasn't a comedy. That's how I grew up--there was always a light side of it.
Also, growing up in Washington, I read two sportswriters every day, both of them gone now. That was Morrie Siegel and Shirley Povich. Both great. They were marvelous writers who could always find some bit of satire or a humorous side of any sporting event. I remember Povich writing about the 1948 Senators and he described them this way: They can't field, they can't pitch, but they can't hit either. He also had that great line about Jim Brown, back when the Redskins were the last team in the NFL without a black player. He mentioned how Jim Brown integrated their end zone a couple of times by scoring two touchdowns. Plus the guys I hung around with all liked sports. We enjoyed it but didn't put life-or-death values on it. One day we're riding down Connecticut Avenue, and who comes out of a hotel? Bucky Harris, the Senators manager. So we yell to him, "Hey, Bucky, why didn't you bunt last night?" He just laughed, probably thought we were crazy kids.
Another time, after an expansion Senators game, standing outside of RKF Stadium, we saw Calvin Griffith, and this is after he moved the original Senators. We booed him, we razzed him, but it wasn't hateful.
That's where my philosophy comes from. I say what I think the fan is saying because I've been a fan and I'm still one today. If the New York Giants offense is horrible--and it is--I say, "You've heard of the prevent defense? The Giants are the only team in the league with a prevent offense." The fan relates to that. That's what he's saying.
Am I a journalist? Well, if your standard is Edward R. Murrow, no. If your standard is a person who communicates, yes, that's what I do and that's what I am--a communicator.
I am a writer. I've always written my own stuff on the air, every word I've ever said. When I started out, the longtime NBC sportscaster Jim Simpson gave me that advice when I was a young guy looking for a job. He said, "Always write your own stuff. People can tell when you're reading somebody else's work." I think that's the key to letting your personality come out on the air. What I do, I take notes, I write them and rewrite them, I refer to them, but I don't use a TelePrompTer. People like to feel they're being spoken to, not read to or lectured. I used to watch Vince Bagli on the Baltimore stations and he always seemed as if he was talking to each individual viewer. I use that style--talk to people and make it humorous.
Why is that important? Well, I've always looked at sports and the weather as the comic relief on the newscast because usually the content of the news is so horrible.
But you can't force it. If you're not funny, don't try to be funny. You have to be sure you never speak over the audience's head. Don't try to be smarter than they are. Keep it simple. Because you can turn an audience off very quickly if they think you are talking down to them or insulting their intelligence.
Now, I've always tried to find something funny every day in life, even under the worst circumstances. It comes naturallyto me. I think I was the first guy really using the videotape to what it is today. And I was the first guy to fool around with names like ESPN's Chris Berman does now.
We had a weatherman, Frank Field. I'd say, "You remember his brother, Ebbets." There was a goalie named Trevor Kidd--I'd say, "Save by Kidd, no relation to Billy The."
My point is, if you're going to be successful in this business, if you're going to last, you have to be different from the other guy.
The other thing, and I've been very fortunate with this, is that people have to like you. They have to like you. I guess the only exception to that was Howard Cosell. A lot of people didn't like him but they watched him. A lot of people watched him because they hated him. But that's the exception. It's a lot easier if they like you. I've been very lucky in that New Yorkers made me feel very welcome both times here, the first time and when I came back. I owe a lot to the New York sports fans. They've provided me with a livelihood. They're very show-business-oriented so you can throw in these little bits and it doesn't go over their heads.
I've found it's important to take your work seriously, but not to take yourself seriously. You can razz a ballplayer but you have to know where to draw the line. This is how he makes his living. You have to have a little respect for what he does.
My style hasn't changed much. I guess this is my formula. This is what works for me. If you've got a shtick, you should shtick to your shtick.
Copyright (c) 2000 by Warner Wolf"
"WARNER WOLF is now in his fifth decade in sports broadcasting. He is currently the sports anchor on WCBS-TV in New York and appears regularly on the Don Imus radio show.
LARRY WEISMAN covers pro football for USA TODAY and has written numerous sports magazines."