It’s Still Down To Prep And Shaking Hands

Some of you may know that my nephew, Jon, has been a major league baseball play-by-play announcer for close to 25 years. He’s spent time with the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves, and has been a regular on ESPN Radio and TV. If you’re a Chicago Cubs’ fan, you may have seen or heard Jon “Boog” Sciambi last season, or during this season behind the mic.

I’ve had the pleasure of watching Jon grow and mature into a top-notch sports broadcaster. This past weekend, I got to witness a couple of the reasons why he is where he is. My brother and I decided to do a baseball weekend at Wrigley and hang out with Boog in the broadcast booth. (Envious sidebar – we got to run the Wrigley scoreboard in the top of the 9th of the Saturday game!)

I remember when Jon accepted the position two years ago. He had been doing ESPN solely for about 10 years, so this was a definite change for him with also the fact that he was a lifelong New Yorker. He knew would be in the same chair occupied at one time by one of baseball’s broadcast icons – Harry Caray. He knew he had to work even harder to establish himself in a new city with the team and the fans.

For a game that starts at 1 p.m., Jon is at the stadium no later than 10 a.m. Understand that, in baseball, your team is playing the same team three, four or five games in a series, so the faces, the strategies and the nuances get to be much the same from day to day. Jon approaches every day as if two new teams are playing.

He heads down to the field to talk to players during their pre-game practice sessions. These are not just conversations about the game or the team. He has a very specific conversation with as many players, individually, as possible and makes it a point to get into their personal lives, specific thoughts, experiences, etc.

If you have ever witnessed a major league baseball game, it’s not a speedy affair, and there are some slow moments. For an ill-prepared broadcaster, those dead times could seem like an eternity. Jon makes sure he has enough “fill” material for each player, just in case. This is not “what you have for breakfast” stuff. He gets a lot deeper so that when he does fill it’s something compelling, informative and/or entertaining. He has a broadcast partner (usually former major leaguer Jim DeShaies, but this weekend it was former Cubs and Marlins pitcher Ryan Dempster) and he makes sure to spend some quality time with that person so that they REALLY know each other. The final product is just two guys having a conversation about a baseball game, but imagining their door is open and everyone is invited in.

The second part of what amazed me about Jon was his accessibility to the fans. Following the two weekend games, he was stopped several times after each game for a “selfie” with a couple of fans. The same thing happened when we were out to dinner both nights.

What was impressive about this was Jon’s engagement with each fan. After the picture was taken, he would start a short, 5–10 minute conversation with them to find out where they were from, how long they were Cubs fans, etc. Bottom-line, he showed that he cared. Not only this, but he and Ryan would make several cell phone videos for fans who were having birthdays after each game. How did Jon know? They sent a tweet and he tweeted the video back. Personal engagement at its best.

There are several points from Jon’s daily routine and his accessibility that can apply to our own talent:

1. Show preparation must be detailed to create compelling and entertaining content.
2. Know the artists and others involved in Country music. Have meaningful conversations to find out more than just their album, single and tour info.
3. Really ENGAGE with your listeners. Let them know you are as interested in them as they are in you.
4. Never take what you do for granted. We are all lucky to be in this business, so make the most of it.

“Taking Your Radio Presence To The Next Level. Be it an artist, radio programmer or on-air talent. Coaching and mentoring down to your foundational level”

Contact me:
John Shomby
Owner/CEO Country’s Radio Coach
jshomby@countrysradiocoach.com
757-323-1460
https://countrysradiocoach.com