Play-by-Playcast

Biko Skalla isn't a Broadcaster ... he's a Broadcast Entertainer and he's the voice of one of the most unique teams in all of sports, the Savannah Bananas. Biko talks about everything that's different about his job and everything that's, well, not all that different about what you'll find on a Banana's broadcast vs any other baseball call.

Everett Fitzhugh was announced as the first African-American team broadcaster in the NHL when the Kraken tapped the voice of the Cincinnati Cyclones to join their crew.  Fitzhugh talks how he wound up in hockey, interviewing Doc Emrick, finding his was to the NHL, why he listens to everybody throughout the season and more.

Jon Anik wasn't an MMA guy.  He was into boxing ... and that opened the door for him to become ESPN's MMA guy ... and that opened the door to broadcasting play-by-play for Bellator ... which eventually led to a job with UFC in 2011.  Anik is now the lead voice of the UFC and the guest on episode 191 of PxPCast.

The former voice at both Bucknell and UMass, Bob Behler has settled in for more than a decade now as the Voice of the Broncos at Boise State University.  Bob takes us on his professional journey and how he approaches his work at Boise State today.

Steve Raible is one of the most recognizable media personalities in the pacific northwest.  The former nightly news anchor on KIRO 7, Raible has been on the Seahawks team as a player, analyst or pxp voice since the team's inception.  He's called three Super Bowls and interviewed three presidents of the United States and this week he details all of it on PxPCast.

Charley Steiner may be most well known as a cultural icon to fans of SportsCenter and the "This is SportsCenter" commercials, but his career is one of the more wide-ranging of those we've had on PxPCast.  From radio to TV to PxP and literally from coast to coast and at the national level, Steiner has seen broadcasting from every perspective.

Cory Provus has worked alongside some of the most iconic names in baseball broadcasting, cracking the MLB at age 28 with Ron Santo and Pat Hughes and then teaming with Mr. Baseball himself in Milwaukee.  Provus is now the voice of the Minnesota Twins on radio and takes a detailed approach to his game.

Jill Montgomery is my talent coach ... and a sideline reporter and analyst for ESPN.  A former track athlete, Jill got into broadcasting in her 30's and climbed the ranks to Super Tuesday basketball.  How she did it and how you can improve yourself on this week's pod!

Assuming there is a 2020 MLB season, Joe Castiglione will be in his 38th year with the Boston Red Sox.  On this episode he talks about those he's worked with along the way, his admiration of Mel Allen, calling the World Series and more.

Scott Franzke went from MLB to the Midwest League.  The Phillies radio voice was a member of the Texas Rangers crew early in his career, but he wasn't the one calling games.  Scott wanted to call games, so he went to the minors and built his skills.  Soon enough he was back in MLB and with the Rangers before finding his way to Philadelphia.

Dewayne Staats has been the TV voice of the Devil Rays, and now Rays, since their inception in 1998.  Prior to his time in Florida Staats was with the Astros (along his mentor), the Yankees, Cubs and with ESPN.  Staats discusses his climb, working with his analysts, what he's learned from the game of baseball and more.

This episode doesn't need much description. Marv Albert is one of the most recognizable voices in the history of play-by-play having been the voice of the Knicks for nearly 40 years and the NBA on NBC and on TNT. In this episode Marv discusses the influence Marty Glickman had on his career, how he found his own voice, Yes!, memories of Michael Jordan, WAER and how the industry has changed over the course of his career.

Larry Kahn is the founder and lead NFL PxP voice for Sports USA Radio, a company that traces its earliest roots to Larry buying the rights to broadcast USC radio. That has blossomed into one of the nation's leading NFL radio networks.

Back on the producer train today with an awesome friend of the pod, Alex Bertsche.  Alex is a Sr. Coordinating Producer for Big Ten Network, rising through the network after spending the first part of his career at CBS Sports.

Emma Tiedemann was supposed to be starting her new job as the AA voice of the Boston Red Sox this spring. Hired as the lead broadcaster for the Portland Sea Dogs, Tiedemann makes the jump after calling games for the Sally League's Lexington Legends. The granddaughter of the legendary Bill Mercer, Emma talks about his influence on her, her own experiences as a broadcaster and the new wave of female voices coming up through MiLB.

Glenn Geffner is one of the radio voices of the Miami Marlins, after having served similar roles in Boston and San Diego and in the minors with the Rochester Red Wings.  He's got an incredible perspective having worked in PR in three of the four above stops as well.  Glenn breaks down his path and approach on this week's episode of the pod!

Spero Dedes burst onto the national scene early in his career when he called the 2004 Olympics for NBC just three years out of college.  He became the voice of the Lakers in 2005 and of the Knicks in 2011. Following his stint at MSG, Dedes joined CBS full-time and works the NFL and NCAA Tournament. A product of Fordham and the Marty Glickman school of thought, Dedes is one of many great former Rams in our business including Mike Breen and Michael Kay.

Pete Pranica has been the radio voice and is now the TV voice of the Memphis Grizzlies.  On this episode of the pod Pete breaks down how he crafts the story-arc of a game, having fun with his analyst and team, making each game of an NBA season count, knowing more about teams than just LeBron James and more.

Ian Eagle is one of the reasons I'm in broadcasting. My career began in high school at the Bruce Beck & Ian Eagle Sports Broadcasting Camp and personally I think Ian is one of the top 5-10 pxp voices in the industry today. The voice of the Brooklyn Nets and a voice for TNT and CBS, Ian is heard across the NFL and NBA and in college athletics on a regular basis.

Krista Blunk played basketball at the University of Evansville but has broadcast anything from hoops to soccer and volleyball as both an analyst and in the PxP chair.  She breaks down how she prepares in each role, how having each role has influenced her performance in the other, the meaning of team and much more.

Mike Moore is the first of his kind to appear on PxPCast ... an executive producer and senior coordinating producer. Mike was one of the key players behind the launch of ESPNU in 2005 and spent much of his career as a senior producer with the ESPN family of networks. He now works with Moore Productions and on this episode of the podcast details the producer side of a broadcast.  Topics we'll cover range from how a producer approaches a game, how a producer best tells stories and how producers and play-by-play announcers can best work together in that endeavor. So much to learn on this episode of PXPCast.

Pat Hughes is the first broadcaster in Chicago Cubs history to call a World Series championship and he's been with the team nearly 40 seasons, having worked previously with the Twins and Brewers. On this episode, Pat dives in to the minutia of calling baseball on radio, the right way to weave in stories on the radio, having the right tenor and pacing in your voice and the best ways to be as descriptive as possible.

ESPN broadcaster Adam Amin makes his unprecedented third appearance on PxPCast talking about being stuck at home because of COVID-19, eating on the air, developing his brand, calling big moments in a minimalist fashion and more.

Kevin Kugler should be calling the NCAA Tournament right now and gearing up for a run to the Final Four on Westwood One radio.  Because of COVID-19 he's on Play-by-PlayCast instead.  One of the premiere radio broadcasters in the business right now, Kugler discusses working with big-time analysts, storytelling, opinions, how talk radio made him a better pxp guy and more.

Mike Monaco is one of the fastest rising superstars in the PxP business. The former TV voice of the Western Michigan Broncos, Mike then made the jump to FOX and BTN before becoming full-time with ESPN and ACC Network this year.  He's also cut his baseball chops in the minors, most recently with the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Salt Lake Bees voice Steve Klauke has broadcast over 3,500 games for the organization.  Originally moving to Utah as part of the Jazz broadcast, Klauke took over PxP with the city's baseball team when the Buzz moved to town from Portland.

Josh Suchon began his career with a decade of newspaper reporting and, at age 34, took the dive and headed into the world of play-by-play.  He also made it quickly back to the Major Leagues working on the Dodgers Radio Network.

Gary Hahn is the 30-year voice of the NC State Wolfpack, but before that he was the voice of the Ohio State Buckeyes and worked on the Louisville and Alabama Networks ... oh, and he had a stint on national radio with NBC in New York.  One of the giants of the collegiate space is this week's guest on PxPCast.

Andrew Allegretta is the newest voice to the FBS scene as the Voice of the Green Wave at Tulane. This week he joins the podcast to talk making the jump to being an FBS voice, why Tulane was the right fit and how he knew, what makes a perfect call, his influence from Bill Roth and more.

Courtney Lyle is one of the youngest full-time broadcasters on the ESPN roster, still not yet 30 years of age.  The Tennessee grad got her start with the SEC Network and working local news before beginning to work her way up the ESPN ladder.  Today we talk travel stories, cracking the network level, broadcasting on twitter and more.  Follow Courtney @Sportney_Lyle.

Brett Dolan worked his way up in the broadcasting world through MiLB, eventually cracking the Majors with the Expos and Diamondbacks on a fill-in basis and then the Astros full-time.  How did he make it to the majors?  Well, we discuss the road this week and how you know you're ready to make that leap.

Well, I've got a soccer broadcast this weekend and it's my first in a decade. How did I prepare? I called one of the better soccer broadcasters right now in Jenn Hildreth and figured out exactly what I'm doing. Want an idea of what to do when you're tackling a new sport to your repertoire? Want to know how to call soccer?  This is the episode for you.  

Jeff Munn is the voice of ... well ... a lot of things.  A PA voice of the Olympics, Fiesta Bowl, World Series and more, Jeff has also called pxp in the NBA, MLB, Alliance of American Football and NCAA.  He's also skilled at media relations and wears more hats than you could imagine.  All of it provides an awesome perspective on this week's PxPCast.

Greg Wrubell has been around BYU athletics for almost all of his adult life ... and he truly is a standard when it comes to looking at what we do in this field as an art and a craft to be honed.  We talk this week about his multi-faceted role at BYU, his prep, constant review and more.

This week on PxPCast we talk about the best ways to help make a television broadcast work as a PxP broadcaster....through the eyes of the other side.  ESPN producer/director Dave Tasca sits down with Joel at the LLWS of Softball regionals and talks about his role and how a PxP guy fits into the puzzle of a TV broadcast.

Quint Kessenich is the lead lacrosse analyst for ESPN but in his time with the network he has expanded that role to include sideline reporting and, more recently, play-by-play itself.  He gives a great perspective on the craft this week, diving into preparation, teamwork and more.

John Walters always wanted to be in play-by-play, working his way up through television and as the radio voice of the Drake Bulldogs.  When he took over for the Cyclones he replaced his longtime friend and mentor who had passed away suddenly.  On this episode we talk about he relationship with Pete Taylor, being humble, working in TV and radio simultaneously and operating Cyclones.tv.

Sam Farber is one of the most respected names in PxP in Los Angeles covering high school sports and college athletics across a variety of TV platforms.  Sam and I met through broadcasting the CrossFit Games in 2018 after years of knowing his name.  On this pod he'll detail his rise through the ranks out west, how he calls a high school game, his prep in general, watching games back and more.

Tony Castricone just completed his second season as the voice of a Pac-12 team, years after being laid off from a job and traveling the country playing open mic nights.  He talks his journey to the pinnacle of college sports and what makes a great broadcast on this week's pod.

What is a Sod Poodle? Sam Levitt knows...no, seriously, the guy went out onto the prairie this week and met some.  You can find it on social media.  The AA Padres voice is very active on social media both on and off the air and is super creative in ways he covers his team.  We dive into that, his voice, not becoming a doctor and more!    

The late Auburn Tigers PxP voice Rod Bramblett lived for his team.  His passion oozed through every word he announced.  Recently Rod tragically passed away in an automobile accident and many of you have tweeted or emailed that you'd like us to repost the Rod Bramblett episode ... and here it is, Episode 108 with Auburn's Rod Bramblett.  He was so enthusiastic about coming on the pod, and I was excited to have had the opportunity to have him.

Deene Ehlis is one of the deans of Triple-A baseball, having served with the Iowa Cubs since 1990.  He's seen everybody from Mark Prior to Kerry Wood and Rod Beck's RV in the parking lot.  Deane talks about his career and his approach to calling games throughout his career.  We also play some name association with players he's seen throughout his career.

So this week's episode needs very little introduction...Kevin Harlan is simply one of the best play-by-play announcers in the business.  On this week's episode he breaks down how he calls a football game, a little look into how he prepares a story arc going into a game, big calls about LeBron having no regard for human life and more.

Ben Wagner was my first boss in broadcasting when I worked for the Buffalo Bisons in 2009. Ten years later he's in the Major Leagues. Coincidence? I think not. But seriously, Ben spent more than a decade as one of the most well respected voices in MiLB before he got his break at the Major League level. On this episode we talk about his climb, if he thought the break would ever come, what makes a good call on the radio, handling no-hitters and how he handles building relationships and interacting with players and coaches in the bigs.

Harry Donahue is the voice of the Temple Owls, but he's also so much more. A fixture of KYW news radio in Philadelphia for almost four decades, Donahue covered the biggest sports and news in Philly and also served as PxP voice of the USFL's Stars for their two year stint in the city...which in a roundabout way earned him a Hollywood movie credit later in life.

Tom Hart began his career in Minor League Baseball before working his way into television and with the Atlanta Braves.  Hart's now the lead voice for college football on Saturday nights for the SEC Network.

Mike Crispino is in his first voice as the voice of the UConn Huskies, but he's no stranger to big time airwaves. A former voice of the New York Knicks and face on MSG Networks for two decades, Crispino is a well known voice around the metro New York market.

For two decades Joe Fisher has been the voice of the Vanderbilt Commodores, but before that he was out of the business and working in PR.  He loved the gig, but the 'Dores came calling and the rest is history.

Paul Keels has spent the last two decades as the voice of the Ohio State.  A Buckeye state native, Keels has worked in his hometown of Cincinnati for the Bengals and UC along with stints covering Michigan and the Detroit Pistons.  Keels talks about his deep pipes, his game prep, calling national finals and more.

Clay Matvick is a second generation broadcaster, following in his father's footsteps as a well known voice in Minnesota ... after first starting out as a dairy farmer (Clay's father, not Clay). He climbed the ranks from radio to TV and eventually to CNN-SI and ESPN.

Robert Lee became a famous name when he didn't call a UVa football game.  And that's something we actually don't talk about on the podcast.  What we do dive into his his career in broadcasting, climbing the ranks to ESPN and what makes a good show on TV.  Follow Robert online @RobertLeePxP.