How I prep for a game

People often tell me they think all I do is sit in front of a microphone and yap about a basketball, baseball, hockey game, etc. What people don't realize is there is a ton of other work that goes into actually preparing for a game. Trust me, the last thing I want to do is to look or sound like a fool on the air. Here is a general list of what goes into my preparation for a basketball game:

Two days before:

Go to each team's website and grab rosters, stats, and media guides. I then go to the conference and NCAA sites and grab the leaders. Print those out and start highlighting stats, accomplishments (Player of the Week, academic honors, etc.) and comparing common opponents the two schools may have played. I then highlight (With the trusty yellow highlighter) the leaders on each team in each category and where players rank in the conference and in the NCAA.

Contact each SID and ask for game notes, pronunciations, etc. Start a general review of the players so I have a base knowledge before I start the rest of my prep work.

One day before:

Take all of the information I have and create what I call a spot chart. This has the player's number, name, hometown, stats and any other information I think will be pertinent throughout a broadcast. This can be quite tedious, but reinforces the information in my head. Also, if a name is difficult to pronounce, I make sure the name is phonetically spelled out on the sheet. This way I am not guessing and pronouncing it in 300 different ways. Really, what I end up doing here is taking about 70 pages of information and condensing it into two sheets of paper.

Next, on that same chart I take the team rankings in PPG, defense, rebounding, three point percentage, three point percentage defense and turnovers and put it a bit apart from the individual information. This always comes in handy during pre-game. I then print it all out and staple the information by team and by league. Really, I want everything at my fingertips when I need it.

Day of:

Check my bag for highlighters, pens, media guides, throat drops, stats, etc. If I forget something, I tend to go into a panic and that is the last thing I want before a game.

Before the game I grab a bite to eat and have ONE glass of red wine. It is superstition as I was told once that red wine is good for the pipes. Especially if I am doing a game solo, I need my voice to be as strong as it can be. While eating, I either look over stats and info or just read my book. Both are actually quite relaxing.

Upon arrival at the arena, I check the setup, talk to the coaches, talk to the SID's, watch warmups and do sound checks. I am compulsive about getting to the arena at least an hour and 15 minutes before a game so if anything goes wrong, it can be fixed before the game starts.

About 30 minutes before airtime, just don't bother me unless you have to. I am usually going over things with my PBP or color guy and like to get into my little zone. I hate not being prepared and this is my last chance to do so. I will say each name about five times, regardless of how easy it is to be safe.

Ten minutes before, we do a final sound check which takes all of about 30 seconds to do. People hear us going "Check, check, check", singing, swearing (We like to get it out of our systems) or having a running conversations with the officials. Many of the refs are very cool, so we will give them a hard time when they think we are on the air.

One minute before, we are ready to go and it is the time of the day I love the most......Gametime. The proverbial red light goes on and I just hope I don't screw up too bad.

Total time it takes to prep is about four to five hours. When I was with ESPN Radio in Vermont and doing this three to five times a week, I would spend countless hours doing prep. The more work one does, the better the broadcast will be.