After fifteen years of hosting a sports talk radio show, and covering sporting events around the country, I've been asked a few questions more than others.
"Why do you yell so much?"
"Do you *only* wear flannel?"
"What's it like to do what you do?"
The answer to the first is "because shut up." The answer to the second is "no but it's comfortable so also shut up."
The third one, however, is one that I'm happy to answer after being approached by a college student who asked about the gig, about the life. I've always done what I can to help out anyone who wants to get ahead in this career, because, frankly, it's relatively cutthroat and hard to get into. But, if there's a drive, if there's a passion, and if there's a willingness to work weird hours at the cost of social time on occasion, there's a way.
I've worked a show at every shift that can be worked. I've worked early mornings, where Red Bull was worth its weight in gold. I've worked late nights, where Red Bull was worth its weight in gold. And I've worked, and am working now, middays, where Red Bull is worth its weight in gold.
The life isn't always as glorious as it might seem. Shockingly, there are some sacrifices that have to be made - ask pretty much anyone who's made the mistake of dating one of us. And there's no such thing as a routine. Sports are always happening, there's no such thing as an 8-5 day, and the more you don't watch, the tougher the job gets.
I'll get into more detail later, but the majority of my show prep is done at night. While sports happen around the clock, season by season, the news gets hot and heavy at night. Consequences, storylines, drama - they're all wrapped up when the sun goes down. Back to that shortly.
The morning starts around 8:00am, when the alarm goes off. The TV goes on first, and a spin around the network recap shows catches me up on exactly what happened when I was asleep, as well as starts my deep dive into any stats or numbers that catch my eye.
The office lights go around nine, and Twitter gets its first glance. At the end of the day, sports talk radio is whatever the fans want to talk about, and there's no better place to get a gauge on the conversation then where fans gather to have said chats. What's trending? What's driving the conversation? What are people engaging with? And, most importantly, what's the angle on those stories? Is there something people are missing? Is there a detail being skipped that would change the perspective? This might be the most important few minutes of the day, as a unique take can drive a conversation that's already happening further, and can make or break your daily show.
After checking Twitter, it's time to drive some fan interaction - which is the second most important part of the day. Our job is to grab attention, and maintain that attention, routinely. We, like it or not, live in a world where nearly everyone has some sort of online presence. Sure, we want to grab the attention of someone scanning their radio, and compel them to stick around. But, there's immense luck in finding someone who's just exploring the airwaves and grabbing them with whatever we happen to be talking about - so compelling someone to go out of their way to search out the show becomes critical. Tweets, Facebook posts, sharing facts and articles - anything that can be done to create a conversation with listeners both current and potential is toward the top of the to-do list.
Next, it's time to organize. The night before, the information is gathered, the data is analyzed, the games are watched. But, unfortunately, that ordinarily results in a sheet of paper full of scribbles, notes, numbers, names, and the occasional doodle. It's all important, but can be the equivalent of hieroglyphics for anybody who isn't me. Printed out is a show outline, complete with three slots for the Lunch BreakDown, and boxes for every segment from start to finish. After determining which three stories are the most compelling, I scatter the rest of the stories throughout the show based on what I know will drive interaction, where cool-down spots are needed, and how many non-sports segments we decide to do. Once the outline is laid out, the last few minutes before showtime are spent sharpening it up, writing out intros to grab attention and teases to keep it through breaks, and making sure any audio that I'll want to play is organized, edited, labeled, and ready to go.
At noon, it's showtime. The lights go on, the stream goes live, the mic goes hot, and The Rob Brown Show goes live.
The radio rule of thumb is that you have about eight seconds to grab the attention of a listener, to convince them that the next fifteen minutes are going to be worth the attention and time required to listen to it. If you've ever wondered why the show's intro every hour is the loudest, most chaotic few minutes of the show, this is it.
The rest of the show is organized chaos. There's a plan, but as has been said many times, all plans go to hell once you get punched in the mouth. Sometimes, the conversations I think will last an hour do. Sometimes, they fall completely flat. Sometimes, a conversation about whether or not chili is standard on a hot dog or if it makes it a chili dog dominates all three hours. The outline is sometimes a road map to success, and sometimes just a balled up sheet of paper atop the garbage heap in the corner.
The show ends at 3:00pm, and this is when the real "work," if you want to call it that, starts.
I have always believed that in order to truly be a local show, you need to have a solid working relationship with the sports figures that are local. I've said since I moved here that GSP is very fortunate to have not only as many local teams as we have, but as many successful teams as we do, and as many teams that care about being a part of the community as we do. Fostering those relationships is a mainstay of my show, working with the media directors and team administrators, organizing interviews and arranging to be part of team activities throughout the season. Those phone calls and conversations help create an atmosphere on the show that, I hope, allows the me and the station to show we care about the athletics community surrounding us.
In a normal week, nighttime means sports. The schedule itself is determined by the sports in season, but keeping up with storylines both locally and nationally is what allows the show to focus on not just the human side of sports, but the games themselves.
But, it really is the perks of the job that make the life I live worth it. On gameday, regardless of the sport, the plans are set. Being a fan of the teams in GSP, but also having a responsibility of covering them, presents a unique opportunity for a local sports radio personality. Ordinarily, I have more access than a regular fan, but there's still plenty of fun to be had. Facebook posts, Tweeting, and putting up live videos of games are part of the responsibilities that ensure local fans are able to share the access that I have for local games, but making sure I'm interacting with team officials, players, coaches, and, perhaps most importantly, with other fans, is a priority for me no matter the event I'm attending. Those are the experiences that make my job special, and the experiences that let me take listeners along with me on these adventures.
Forty hour weeks aren't the norm in the gig. There's no set schedule at all. But, when there's a passion for what you do, when you love the thing you've turned into your craft, when your job is also your recreation, the benefits of the job make it so much more than one.
