Media Circus: How Mike Tirico is preparing to call his first NHL game; Dan D’Uva's amazing charts (2024)

“When the puck drops it will be the beginning of my hockey-calling career,” says Mike Tirico, about his upcoming broadcasting assignment on Wednesday night. “It might be the end of it, too.”

For the myriad of sports Tirico has called during his 30-plus years in sports broadcasting, from Monday Night Football to the NBA Finals to major college basketball to even a national championship game in college lacrosse, Tirico has never called a hockey game at any level. That will change Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN when he goes behind the mic (with game analyst Eddie Olczyk and on-ice analyst Brian Boucher) for the Red Wings-Blackhawks game at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

In an interview with The Athletic last week, Tirico said he has been a fan of the NHL for decades and always enjoyed doing NHL highlights as a SportsCenter anchor for ESPN in the 1990s. He was assigned hosting duties for the Stanley Cup Final last year as well as this year’s Winter Classic and NHL All-Star Game and those assignments led to conversations with NBC executive producer Sam Flood about the potential of calling an NHL game as a one-off. “I told him I’d love to try one,” Tirico said. “We figured it would be after football season when I could truly prepare for it and so here we are.”

What was interesting to me when I learned of the news was how a sports broadcaster, especially one as accomplished as Tirico, goes about preparing for a sport he or she has never called. Hockey presents its own unique challenges given how frantic the action can be, the nomenclature of the sport, and certain names (e.g. Andreas Athanasiou) that don’t easily roll off the tongue. (It’s an-DRAY-uhs ath-ah-nah-SEE-yew, by the way.)

“A good broadcaster believes they can call any sport,” said Ian Eagle, the CBS Sports and YES Network broadcaster and one of the most versatile sports broadcasters of his era. “Your comfort level with play-by-play often correlates to your background. I was a hockey fan growing up, but my interest level and knowledge was stronger in the other three major sports. Hockey play-by-play is all about rhythm and pace, and those that stand out behind the mic can quickly identify players and developments on the ice. I don’t think the frenetic speed of the game feels overwhelming to a hockey announcer, that’s the space they live in. The same principles apply no matter the sport. On radio, describe what you see, paint the word picture in a fluid fashion, and articulate the excitement. On TV, compliment the pictures, punctuate the action when necessary, and don’t get in the way. Of course, the multisyllabic names could be challenging, but that comes with the territory in hockey.

“When I’ve been asked to call sports that were a bit outside my purview (boxing, track and field, golf, tennis, volleyball), I hit the books by studying how others did it and building a base with a glossary of terms,” Eagle continued. “With hockey play-by-play, there are certain instincts that you wouldn’t have unless you’ve been in that world for an extended period of time. That doesn’t mean you can’t step in and do a professional job, but the nuances of the sport could be lacking.”

How has Tirico prepared? He said he has watched more hockey this season as preparation for the assignment and has spoken to NHL broadcasters around the league to come up with a system for his spotting/information charts. Specifically, he either reached out to (or they reached out to him) NBC Sports colleague Kenny Albert (who is also the longtime radio voice of the New York Rangers), Ken Daniels (the TV voice of the Red Wings), Ken Kal (the radio broadcaster for Detroit), Dan D’Uva, the radio broadcaster for the Vegas Golden Knights, Bruins broadcaster Jack Edwards, as well as Mike Emrick, the lead game-caller for NBC’s NHL coverage.

Albert said he spent an afternoon and evening with Tirico during NHL All-Star weekend. He first met Tirico in the early 1990s and they text frequently.

“The biggest piece of advice I gave Mike is to be prepared for any of the 36 skaters (18 on each team) to be on the ice at any time,” Albert said. “As opposed to football and basketball, where substitutions only happen during stoppages or between plays, hockey players change on the fly every 30 to 40 seconds. I also shared some thoughts with Mike re: working with Eddie Olczyk and Brian Boucher, frequent partners of mine during the last several seasons. Eddie and Brian are among the best in the business and have great chemistry together. Working with an analyst such as Brian who will be ‘Inside the Glass’ and not up in the booth is a challenge for a number of reasons — hockey is such a fast-paced sport, and the play-by-play broadcaster must allow room for two analysts during stoppages or lulls in the action, and one of the analysts is at ice level, so the two in the booth (Mike and Eddie) must anticipate when Brian is going to jump in to make a comment, and vice versa, without ‘stepping’ on each other. Mike is one of the best hosts and play-by-play broadcasters of our generation. There are not many who excel at both roles, yet Mike is flawless. As someone who prides himself on preparing for every broadcast like it is the Super Bowl or Stanley Cup Final, I can tell from watching Mike’s telecasts and speaking with him that he feels the same way as I do. If Mike were told he has to fill in on a curling or badminton match within 48 hours, he would make it sound like he has been doing those sports for 20 years.”

Tirico said that he didn’t think the Red Wings or Blackhawks rosters possessed any overtly difficult names, though Chicago defenseman Slater Koekkoek (SLAY-tuhr KOO-KOO) would be a fun one to try in real time. He predicted he would be more excited than nervous when the puck dropped and does not have any unique goal calls planned. Asked if he is worried about criticism for broadcasting at a lower standard given he is one of the most accomplished and praised members of his craft, Tirico said, “Fear of failure is a good thing and a reminder of why you do this and challenge yourself with preparation. I will say in preparing for this my level of admiration and appreciation for hockey play-by-play guys, which was high, is now through the roof. Just the pacing of the game and the decisions you have to make within the game are exponentially more voluminous than football or basketball.”

D’Uva said in an interview that he spoke with Tirico at the All-Star Game as well as in Detroit before a Knights-Red Wings game earlier this month. They also exchanged emails, and D’Uva offered samples of his game preparation.

“Most of our hockey play-by-play conversation revolved around preparation and assembling a chart, or spotting board,” D’Uva said. “I showed him how I lay out my charts and explained what type of information I include. We looked at his football chart as sort of a comparison to my hockey chart, thinking aloud about the similarities and differences. I showed him how I prepare a card for each team, with players sorted by number, filled with background information, biographical notes, trends and story bullets.

“Another card — a hand-written lineup chart — I fill out with expected line combinations and defensive pairs. I made the point to Mike that presenting players as a line or a defensive pair serve to help the viewer better understand the game and anticipate what could happen next. It’s not too different than identifying which wide receivers are split wide in a shotgun formation. Associating players in that way helps the viewer grasp the situation and the strategy and think more intelligently about the game. A viewer may ascribe a certain personality or feeling about a player based on the role he plays, and that role is often intertwined with who he plays alongside — for instance a penalty kill partner or a fourth-line center. Organizing a line chart helps me as a broadcaster reinforce those associations.”

Tirico said he would have done any game NBC assigned him, though he is familiar with the Red Wings given he lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has sat in the press box at Little Caesars Arena and that familiarity should help. So will being aided by a quality behind-the-scenes team, including producer Stephen Greenberg and stats/information guru Ben Bouma (a close friend and colleague of Albert’s for 25 years who has also worked with Tirico on college football).

If the broadcast goes smoothly, would Tirico consider calling hockey again?

“I am looking at this as doing it once,” Tirico said. “If it goes well and there are spaces on my schedule and everyone else’s schedule, that would be fine. But I am not trying to make this a huge role. It is just a nice addition for me. I miss doing play-by-play and I miss basketball season where I would do 30 to 40 games. So let’s just see if I can survive the first period and not get pulled for the backup goalie.”

The Ink Report

1. D’Uva was gracious enough to pass along the charts he sent Tirico, including his team chart from a Vegas-Tampa Bay game Feb. 5, and a line chart from last year’s Stanley Cup Final Game 4. It’s a fascinating glimpse into how hockey broadcasters prepare.

Said D’Uva: “Everybody’s got their own way of preparing and organizing info for broadcasts. I’m always reevaluating my process, asking myself questions. What’s missing? What’s cluttered? What am I not remembering? What’s unclear? Where can I be more efficient? What kinds of things am I focusing on too much or too little? Listening back to tapes of our broadcasts helps this effort a lot too.

“I use Adobe InDesign to create these documents. I have a layer for each team for each game. I duplicate the VGK layer after each game and work off of that and update where needed — career and season stats, streaks and trends, lineup adjustments and injuries, and whatever other notes I may want to add.There’s lots of color coding. There’s some method to it, but it boils down to my brain knows what colors mean what in certain places. In some places, the colors might have no meaning, but will just serve to differentiate one point from another. Team colors are employed in other places. Generally, I have a light shade of blue that indicates to me the “last game.” A certain shade of green indicates contract details. I’ll highlight in yellow for a nearing or recently attained milestone or birthday. I’ll also use asterisks and superscript to note a team or league rank. I use the space between the goalies and skaters for additional notes I liked grouped in a certain way, such as injuries, transactions, streaks, team background, leaders, quotes, lists, etc.

“A separate document, a line chart, I fill out by hand each game. There is lots of value for me seeing the players grouped by line or pair with sparse data. Along with number and name, I add games played, goals, assists, points. I underscore starters with a fine-point highlighter. I use other portions of this document for date, records, standings, officials, special teams info, scratches, and more. I also use the blanks space to make bullet points I want to address during the broadcast — sort of a rough script. Making out this document by hand (versus a computer) is helpful in two ways: 1. I can create parts of this far in advance and add to it right up to puck drop (and often times after the game has begun), and 2. Writing by hand helps information stick in my mind. The players’ names and groupings become internalized for me when I write them out. Most of what’s on these documents is in my head. The game happens so fast that you risk missing something if you look down at your notes even for an instant. I don’t really have to look at these documents too often during a game. The act of creating them is essential. I’ll glance down during breaks as a reminder, and ask myself, what here needs to be addressed?

“A lot my preparation that doesn’t show up on these documents comes from reading and talking to people (players, coaches, managers, scouts, writers, broadcasters, elevator operators, etc…). I might jot something down on my notes if I want a particular quote or phrase or stat or bullet to jog my memory.I also use an app called Evernote to write down ideas or reminders of what someone saidand to clip quotes from news articles. But much of the storytelling/reporting I do during games comes off the top of my head. Again, examining my notes too closely during the broadcast (other than a direct quote or specific bit of data) could distract from what’s happening in front of me. In a way, these documents are cheat sheets or “just in case” security blankets.”

2. Tirico is the current host of NBC’s Football Night in America, the position Bob Costas held before he was excised from NBC’s football coverage. I asked Tirico what he thought of the recent ESPN pieceon Costas written by ESPN investigative reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada and highlighted on E:60.

“I saw the piece and I will start with this: Bob is somebody I look up to who has become a really good friend,” Tirico said. “I respect him, I think the world of him and I admire him personally and professionally. So it involves a really good friend and the people I work for so I am not really comfortable getting too deep in public comment. But I will say Bob’s legacy at NBC Sports has a lot of chapters, a lot of great chapters, and that was achieved together by the two sides. I wish that this was not as big an issue as it is. It is something that all of us as rightsholders and on-air folk deal with and networks deal with on a regular basis, these conversations of what you cover and what you do. At the end of it, hopefully, you do what is right for the viewers.”

2a. Tirico will serve as host of the Indy 500 on May 26, the first time the race has ever aired on NBC after 54 years on ABC. The network’s coverage of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series begins March 10 with the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida at 1 p.m. ET.

3. Episode 40 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features three guests: ESPN investigative reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada, Fox Sports NASCAR host and NFL reporter Shannon Spake, and preeminent NASCAR writer and reporter Jeff Gluck.

In this podcast, Fainaru-Wada discussed his year-long reportingon Bob Costas that culminated on Feb. 11 when “Outside the Lines” ran a video and text piece on Costas being excised from NBC’s football coverage; how the piece came to fruition; how often he spoke with Costas; why he thinks Costas talked to him; how he approached NBC Sports and what their response was to his inquiries; whether an in-game broadcast of the NFL can ever tell hard truths; calling me out for saying ESPN would no longer do investigative work on third rail NFL issues; how he navigated this story with his superiors, who negotiate NFL media contracts; ESPN’s commitment to this kind of reporting, and much more.

Spake discussed being named host of Fox NASCAR’s race coverage, including all the anchor duties for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series; how that assignment came about; how she plans to forge chemistry with her studio group; the numbers of women working in NASCAR; how to navigate covering the sport from a studio in Charlotte; why NASCAR has hemorrhaged television viewers; working on the team of Thom Brennaman and Chris Spielman on NFL games this season; the differences and similarities between NFL and college football sideline reporting; whether players and coaches curse more in pro football or college; the differences between working at Fox and ESPN; her super fandom of The Howard Stern show; her training as an endurance racer and racing in multiple half Ironmans (1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run), and much more.

Gluck discussed covering NASCAR via crowdfunding and how he supports his career and life via his Patreon page; why he opted to leave USA Today for this new style of independent reporting; who his patrons are and why he thinks they fund him; his current relationship with NASCAR; how he views the state of the media covering NASCAR today; why media outlets have scaled back on NASCAR coverage; whether ESPN leaving the sport has had an impact; the declining television ratings of the sport; how to get more people of color and women interested in NASCAR; whether the crowdfunding approach could work for writers in major sports, and much more.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more.

4. Sports pieces of note:

• From a church in Philadelphia, Sports Reference informs the world. By James Wagner of the New York Times.
• Joe and Renae Ingles, for Exclusive Insight, on their son Jacob, who is on the autism spectrum.
• The Athletic’s Joe Vardon, on LeBron James’s plans to own an NBA team.
• Via Washington City Paper’s Kelyn Soong: When Sports Writers Turn to Politics.
• From Wayne Drehs of ESPN.com: How could someone born without arms or legs, who’s never held a football, teach high school players how to throw, tackle or block? Meet Rob Mendez.
• The MMQB’s Connor Orr, on the Firing of Bill Belichick.
• The Athletic’s Anthony Slater on how Steph Curry has dealt with A-list fame.

Non-sports pieces of note:

• The Tech Whiz Behind Vine and HQ Trivia Made Millions in His 20s. He Was Dead by 34. By Shalini Ramachandran, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Yoree Koh of the Wall Street Journal.
• A series via The Houston Chronicle: Abuse of Faith.
• The Meg Ryan Q&A. By David Marchese.
• Let Me Tell You About My Friend Maria Butina — Who Might Be A Russian Spy. From Elena Nicolaou, for Refinery 29.
• Shopping in Pyongyang, and Other Adventures in North Korean Capitalism. Via NYT Magazine.
• In the age of Trump and Bezos, public life is one big smutty ancient Greek vase. By Marina Hyde of The Guardian.
• The chemists and the cover-up. From Reason’s Shawn Musgrave.
• Via The Guardian: The town where residents live alongside polar bears.
• Via Jen Doll of Harpers Bazaar: Why Does It Feel Like Everyone Has More Money Than You?
• From Kevin Kelly of Wired: Someday soon, every place and thing in the real world—every street, lamppost, building, and room—will have its full-size digital twin in the mirror world.
• Via New York Times writer Thomas Erdbrink: The Iran Revolution at 40.
• For The London Review of Books: Patricia Lockwood travels through the internet.
• From Clive Thompson of the NYT: The Secret History of Women in Coding.
• Rebecca McCarthy, for Longreads: Atlantic City Is Really Going Down This Time.
• From The Marshall Project: The challenge for abused detainees to seek justice in a system set up to offer none.
• Life After Parkland. By Devon Heinen.

5. The Bay Area Group’s Jon Wilner on the Pac 12 Networks struggling with audience and revenue.

5a. FS1’s presentation of “Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon” drew 854,000 viewers, the most-watched original film debut on FS1.

5b. Chad Finn of Boston.com on the Red Sox’s flagship radio station opting for rotating broadcasters.

5c. CBS Sports Network will premiere of “Althea & Arthur,” a documentary highlighting the legacies of Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, the first African-Americans to cross the color barrier of international tennis. The one-hour special debuts today at 9 p.m. ET.

5d. Last week I askedmy colleagues at The Athletic who cover NBA teams which players on the team they cover would be a good fit for media careers after their playing days. One of the players mentioned in the piece — Toronto’s Danny Green — took advantage of NBA All-Star Weekend and got some quality sports media reps. Not only did Green work as an analyst (along with Frank Kaminsky of the Hornets) on TNT’s coverage of the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night, he fronted two entertaining long-form features for Sportsnet (Canada) and TSN (Canada) where he interviewed NBA All-Stars including teammate Kawhi Leonard. Nice job.

5e. Turner Sports had a lot of add-ons for viewers this weekend in addition to its television coverage of NBA All-Star Weekend, and one of the more amusing options was a live stream during the dunk contest featuring front row commentary from Charles Barkley and Kevin Garnett. That produced the funniest moment (at least for me) of All-Star Weekend.

Said Barkley, watching a middling dunk contest:

“I want to see something that I haven’t seen …

Pause.

“Like a vodka and cranberry.”

(Top photo of Tirico: Leon Halip / Getty Images)