Mike Breen is always known for his signature “bang” call during an NBA game on ESPN or ABC. He always has a good feel for the moment and has had his fair share of great calls. However, he knows sometimes, he isn’t going to get it right every time.
Breen was a guest on The Old Man and The Three podcast and he was asked by JJ Redick and Tommy Alter what was the worst call he ever had in his illustrious career, The answer he gave was at the end of last year’s playoff game between the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics.
“Game 1, Nets-Celtics. It was a fantastic game. It was one of those games and I think I even said it to Tim Corrigan, who was producing, it’s all clicking. The feeling was great. Then, Jayson Tatum hits the shot at the end and I butchered the call as badly as I’ve ever butchered a big call at the end of a game, I couldn’t sleep the next 2 days. Now, if that was 10 years ago, It probably would’ve been a 2-week grief period.
“The reason I was so mad was because the whole crew had just knocked it out of the park and by one second at the very end, I blew the call.”
The reason Breen gets upset when a call like that doesn’t go the way he hoped is that he feels he has a responsibility to the player, the team, and the league to capture the moment correctly.
“When I hear those highlights played back, it’s kind of surreal actually. You want to make sure that you do the moment right for the player or for the team. That’s my goal. Not to have some classic call. You want to do service to that special moment in the NBA. I feel it’s an honor and a privilege to call these games, but I also think it is a responsibility to do those moments right. Hopefully, you get most of them. You are not going to get all of them right, sometimes you blow them. That’s my goal. To be responsible and serve that moment right for the player and the team.”
During the interview, Redick asked Breen what separates a good announcer from a great announcer, which allowed Breen to mention the things he strives to do whenever he is on a broadcast.
“When I’m doing a game, I want the viewer to feel that this guy’s prepared. You can tell he’s prepared. He knows the teams, he knows the players, he knows the league, that’s number one. Number two is that they say he loves the league. You can tell he loves basketball. I think that’s as important as anything.
“Even if you are not so prepared, if you are out there and you go ‘Man, there’s nothing better than watching those two teams go at each other’. The third thing is this guy likes the guy he is working with. I think if you accomplish those three things, you are doing a good job. That’s what I strive for in every game.”
With as many memorable moments as Breen has called over the years, he has had a fair share of blowout games as well. During blowouts, you will sometimes see discussion from the broadcasters on big-picture topics, but Breen tries to make it a point to keep the focus on the game.
“You got to have a fine line. Sometimes the big picture stuff is great, but at the same time you still have to respect what’s out on the floor in front of you and especially the viewers who are watching. At that point, a lot of people who are watching still care about their team and they want to know the 11th guy on the team who is getting a run what you think of him because they have been tweeting that they want him to play more minutes. It’s a balance.
“With Mark [Jackson] and Jeff [Van Gundy], they are great on big picture stuff and most people are. It’s fun to talk about, but you have to still respect the game that’s going on. I sometimes think we get away from that too much and not stick with the game.”
Ricky Keeler is a reporter for BSM with a primary focus on sports media podcasts and national personalities. He is also an active podcaster with an interest in pursuing a career in sports media. You can find him on Twitter @Rickinator555 or reach him by email at RickJKeeler@gmail.com.
ESPN aired Tuesday night’s New York Rangers and Washington Capitals game. DisneyXD and Disney Channel aired an alternate broadcast that included players being 3D animated to resemble the cast of Disney Channel’s popular cartoon Big City Greens. It turned into a ratings win for the networks.
The alternate broadcast featured players animated in real time to mimic what was happening on the Madison Square Garden ice. Players were equipped with special chips in the padding to aid the animation, and special pucks were used to ensure a smooth transition from video to computer-animated graphics.
An average of 589,000 viewers tuned into the game on ESPN. Meanwhile, nearly 175,000 watched the broadcast between Disney Channel and DisneyXD.
The figure for ESPN represents its largest NHL broadcast since a November 1st broadcast featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins.
The combined total for the broadcast — 765,000 — outdrew the World Baseball Classic broadcasts but did not top the NCAA Tournament’s First Four round that was broadcast on truTV.
This week, it was announced that Greg Gumbel will no longer be a play-by-play announcer for the NFL on CBS after working on CBS’s NFL coverage every year since 1998. Gumbel has had an illustrious career and he takes pride in the fact that one thing has never happened to him.
Gumbel was a guest on the Tell Me A Story I Don’t Knowpodcast with George Ofman (Part 2 from an interview back in September) and he told Ofman that while he has never been fired before, but he doesn’t think broadcasters should be embarrassed when they get fired because of what the business is.
“It’s the nature of the business. I honestly think I’ve been extremely fortunate in that I’ve never been fired in a business that is known for firings. Being fired in this business is no shame, no embarrassment because it’s a subjective business. Because this guy at this network likes my work, it doesn’t mean that this guy at that network does. It’s extremely subjective and if you can buy that and understand it the way it is, then it shouldn’t bother you at all.
“It’s never happened to me. If it had, it would not have surprised me. I worked for some people who didn’t like me, I’ve worked for some people I didn’t like. It’s a strange business, there’s no doubt.”
Gumbel has been the host of CBS’s NCAA Tournament coverage for the last 25 years and he knows it’s a job that he is very grateful to have.
“I know there are people who would give their right arm to be sitting there next to Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis on Selection Sunday or sitting next to Kellogg, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley when the tournament begins to talk about what we’ve just seen or what we are going to see. I am never, ever going to take for granted the fact that I have been very fortunate to be able to do that.”
One thing Gumbel tries to avoid whenever he is on air is the mispronunciation of someone’s name because he knows how it feels to have his name distorted accidentally by some people.
“Pronunciations are important to me. There’s been a lifetime of people who may not completely mispronounce my name, but distorting it a little bit from time to time. I never want to do that to an athlete. If I ever mispronounce an athlete’s name, I hear it from his family, I hear it from the school or the team and I apologize for it as soon as I can. I don’t think that is something light or should be taken for granted.”
Toward the end of the interview, Gumbel was asked by Ofman when he will know it will be time to end his career.
“Other people have given it more thought than I have. I think when that time comes around, it will hit me over the head more than I will think about it. There are people who ask me why I still do what I do. The very bottom line is I love it, I enjoy it.”
Ricky Keeler is a reporter for BSM with a primary focus on sports media podcasts and national personalities. He is also an active podcaster with an interest in pursuing a career in sports media. You can find him on Twitter @Rickinator555 or reach him by email at RickJKeeler@gmail.com.
Diamond Sports Group Misses Arizona Diamondbacks Rights Payment
It is believed that the missed rights payment by Bally Sports Arizona triggers a clause in the contract that reverts the television rights back to the Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball.
Last week, Diamond Sports Group — operator of the Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks — claimed it had paid every rights fee it was contractually obligated, except for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
At the time, the company said it had a grace period until it needed to make a payment. That payment was due by Thursday, March 16th at 11:59 PM. That time has come and gone, and the company failed to deliver its fee.
It is believed that the missed rights payment by Bally Sports Arizona triggers a clause in the contract that reverts the television rights back to the Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball.
The Diamondbacks are not the only team affected by the situation. Bally Sports — which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week — has also reportedly entered a grace period with the San Diego Padres. According to a report from Sports Business Journal, that grace period ends on March 30th, baseball’s Opening Day.
Previous reporting claims that contract is one the network hopes to get out from under. The company loses a reported $20 million per season on its television deal with the Padres. The Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians are the other two baseball franchises the network holds the rights to that it hopes to terminate deals for.
