Mad or Just Jealous

A while back I was in the studio and on the tv monitors we had on the various morning television shows.  During a break I pointed to one of them and mentioned that the host is going to be a big star.  She's talented, the camera loves her and she's a natural.  The guy in the studio with me got hot about that.  He said "you know, she's a teacher and she has no right on tv taking a job away from a real broadcaster".  He was bent out of shape because she doing a job that he obviously wanted.

I thought about that on my drive home.  He may be right,  In sports broadcasting there are far too many non broadcasters broadcasting.  I've mentioned Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornhieser on Pardon the Interruption.  Steven Brunt on the Fan.  John Tory doing afternoon talk.  Wilbon, Kornhieser and Brunt are all from print.  They have, or had, newspaper jobs.  What the hell are they doing in radio and tv.  Well what they're doing is a better job than most broadcasters.

I think it may have to do with command of the language.  Most broadcasters are taught to keep it simple.  Writers seem to have a better grasp of how and when to use certain words and phrases.  They also have a great ability to tell stories.  Now, this isn't to say that there aren't alot of broadcasters who can't do the same.  But I could listen to Brunt and Kornhieser prattle on all day. 

Tory is the one who really gets me p-o'd. He doesn't need the job.  This is more like a hobby for him but guy moves into a talk radio and within a month or so he's one of the best in Toronto and that's just not fair. In fact he may be a better talk show host that he was a politician.  Check that, he is better talk show host than he was a politician.  He has great recall, he always knows what he's talking about and he understands the art of debate.  He knows how to argue and I mean argue as in the exchange of ideas to make a point. 

That's what Brunt, Wilbon and Kornhieser have as well.  They know how to debate.  Far too many "trained" broadcasters never had it or if they did they've lost the ability. 

One of the things that really grinds me about talk radio is people talking over each other.  On the weekend I was listening to a show and all 3 of the hosts were talking at once.  They don't get it. The listener has no idea who's saying what.  To me this is sin no. 1 in broadcasting.  If the listener can't get a grip on what you're saying there's no point saying it.  After 15 seconds of verbal anarchy I switched stations.

Wilbon and Kornhieser will trip over each other on occasion but for the most part they give each other room to argue.  Brunt and Tory do the same. 

Another non broadcaster turned broadcaster who I have great respect for is Buck Martinez.  The former Blue Jay catcher, manager and colour man is going to be the Jay's tv play by play man this season.  Here's a guy who studied broadcasting.  Here's a guy who's turned himself into one of the very best baseball broadcasters in the business.  When he was paired with Dan Shulman on Jay's games a few years back there was never a night when Martinez didn't tell me something I didn't know.  He has a great ability to explain the nuances of the game and make them understandable to the casual fan.  He can dumb it down with authority. 

How can you get mad at people like this who simply have the ability to communicate, debate and make it entertaining at the same time?  Am I mad at them for taking jobs away from real broadcasters?  I want to be but I cant be. These so called non broadcasters are better than most broadcasters. How can you be mad at them?  You can't!  But you can be jealous,