An in-depth look at each of Major League Baseball’s thirty ballparks from the perspectives of the game’s longest-tenured storytellers—the broadcasters. With decades of broadcasting between them, 50 broadcasters share their fondest memories from the booth, encapsulating some of baseball’s greatest moments.

2021 marks the 100th anniversary of sports commentary. Award-winning commentator Michael Schiavello examines the greatest sports commentators in history, the best calls ever heard, and offers stories from his own journey through the sports broadcasting world. The Commentators reviews of more than 60 of the best moments in sports history and examines some of the finest plays and commentary calls across 20 different sports including soccer, American football, golf, boxing, Formula One, horse racing, ice hockey, athletics, tennis, baseball, cricket, professional wrestling, darts, rugby, cycling, and more--plus the biggest sports events, including Olympics (summer and winter), FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl, World Series, and Rugby World Cup. A powerful story unfolding during a sports event can inspire us about a sport we've never watched, an athlete we haven't heard of, or a country we've never visited or even located on a map. Stories engross an audience and engage them on an emotional level. Once a commentator captures an audience's emotions, they're putty in his hands. The power of sports lies within those individuals and the ability of the commentator to tell those stories.

Line changes, limited time outs, and pucks traveling 100 miles per hour—hockey is called “the fastest game on Earth” for a reason. Keeping up with this non-stop action, especially for decades on end, takes a special kind of talent. Today’s NHL broadcasters capture the game in arguably the most difficult capacity in the world of sports, giving the fans a guide to the action in a way nobody else could. With careers outlasting the players, coaches, general managers, and, in some cases, the city itself, the NHL’s broadcasters have more than their fair share of stories to tell. In The Voices of Hockey: Broadcasters Reflect on the Fastest Game on Earth, Kirk McKnighttakes thirty-four of the game’s most gifted play-by-play broadcasters—including nine hall of famers—and shares their many insights, memories, and experiences. These broadcasters have witnessed all-time greats such as Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, and Alexander Ovechkin, making them the ideal voices to pay tribute to the legends of yesterday and the heroes of tomorrow. The Voices of Hockey brings the reader down to the surface of the ice to experience overtime marathons, record-setting performances, bloodied fights, intense rivalries, and the raising of the Stanley Cup, with details and inside perspectives from some of the most qualified spectators of the game. From Bob Miller’s description of “The Miracle on Manchester” to John Kelly’s childhood recollection of Bobby Orr’s famous “flying goal,” this bookis truly an encapsulation of the NHL over the past fifty years. Generations of hockey fans will enjoy reliving their favorite moments and reading about those they missed in this unique and captivating view of the fastest game on Earth.

Beyond Powerful Radio is a complete guide to becoming a powerful broadcast communicator on radio or internet! This how-to cookbook is for broadcasters who want to learn the craft and improve. This practical and easy-to-read book, filled with bullet lists, offers techniques to learn everything from how to produce and host a show, to news gathering, coverage of investigative and breaking stories, writing and delivering the commercial copy and selling the air time. With contributions from over 100 top experts across all broadcast fields, Beyond Powerful Radio offers techniques, advice and lessons to build original programming, for news, programming, talk shows, producers, citizen journalism, copy writing, sales, commercials, promotions, production, research, fundraising, and more. Plus: Tips to assemble a winning team; to develop, build, and market your brand; get your next job in broadcasting, effectively promote your product; increase sales; write and produce commercials; raise money with your station; deal with creative burnout and manage high ego talent; and to research and grow your audience. Never be boring! Get, keep, and grow audiences through powerful personality, storytelling, and focus across any format. Tried-and-true broadcast techniques apply to the myriad forms of audio broadcast available today, including Web radio and podcasting. While the technology and delivery systems change, the one constant is content! Listeners, viewers, and surfers want to be entertained, informed, inspired, persuaded, and connected with powerful personalities, and storytellers. A full Instructor Manual is available with complete lesson plans for broadcast instructors - course includes Audio Production/Radio Programming/Management/Broadcast Journalism. The Instructor Manual is available for download here: http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780240522241/

The author compiles a list of the top 101 sports announcers, focusing on their coverage of the greatest moments in the game, from the Bobby Thompson "Shot Heard 'Round the World" to the 1988 World Series, covering Dick Enberg, Harry Caray, Mel Allen, and Ernie Harwell, among other announcers. Original.