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What Do Fans Think A Sports Talk Host’s Job Is?

“When it comes to local media, fans expect to hear why their optimism isn’t unfounded or why following their team isn’t time wasted.”

Demetri Ravanos

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Last Friday, Seth Everett posted a column that I thought was a fair critique of where baseball is as a sport. He pointed out that the public seemingly only pays attention when the sport is in a PR mess, and lately, that seems to be happening a little too frequently.

Seth made points that are hard to argue with. The move from Atlanta to Denver for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game seems less about benefitting Denver and punishing Georgia than it does about making Major League Baseball feel good. The lack of balls in play is definitely a problem. Baseball may not be dying, but I, for one, can’t see how anyone can feel good about the sport right now. Later in the day, a tweet popped up on my timeline from my pal Brady Farkas.

Now, call me cold or an opportunist or unfair or whatever, but why does the media need to save baseball? Doesn’t it seem like that should be baseball’s job to figure how to change public perception? I’m not sure any of us in this business owe any league or team anything other than than to be fair, which I thought Seth was. “Hit piece” feels a little strong. But this comment started my wheels turning.

I know Brady loves baseball. He hosts a show on WDEV in Vermont, so he has to be locked in on the Red Sox, but at the drop of a hat he can tell you all of the problems with the Mariners’ farm system.

Brady is a more traditional sports fan than I am. He lives and dies with his teams and will put on any game at any time and can find himself locked in. I love college football, I love the Celtics, other than that, I just want to be entertained. I grew up rooting for the Buccaneers, and so I was happy to see them win the Super Bowl, but I am not positive that I didn’t get just as much joy out of Tom Brady being drunk on a boat later that week.

Does loving the absurdity and weirdness of sports blind me to what it is fans of teams and listeners to our shows think our job description is? Is there a widely held belief that we need to protect or only talk positively about the teams and sports we cover?

Heath Cline is one of my closest friends in this business. He hosts the afternoon show at 107.5 The Game in Columbia, SC. The city is the home of the South Carolina Gamecocks. The school’s football, basketball and baseball games play on his station. Heath says that definitely shades the way his listeners think about his job.

“There’s definitely a belief among some portion of the audience that being ‘the home of the Gamecocks’ means we’re supposed to be rah rah at all times,” he says. “What’s funny is that we’re supposed to back them to the hilt, until the minute the fans get mad and want to fire someone at which point unless we agree with them we’re homers and shills for the athletic department.”

Heath Cline | WNKT-FM

I called Gary Parrish, because I thought he might have a unique perspective. Gary has a local audience in Memphis, where he can be heard on 92.9 ESPN. He also has a national audience thanks to his work for CBS. He covers college basketball both on television and on CBSSports.com.

Gary says there are times he has found himself wondering if he has colleagues that feel like they are supposed to protect and talk up the sports they cover.

“Even friends of mine will say things and type things like ‘college basketball is the greatest sport in the world’. And the truth is, it’s just not,” Parrish says. “It’s, at this point, kind of a niche sport. It’s kind of, for most people, a six week sport, maybe a five week sport, maybe even a three week sport. So, I don’t feel like it’s my obligation to lie to anybody. I love college basketball. It is my job to to cover college basketball, but I don’t pretend that it’s not without issues and I think some real serious issues that that need to be addressed.”

I am not making a comment on anyone’s professionalism here. Two people can choose to do the same job in very different ways. Different outlets can even come with different expectations in how you do your job and what you owe the people and organizations you cover. That can mean you can talk about the same thing the same way on two different platforms and the audiences can have opposite opinions of you. Parrish says he deals with that every basketball season.

“The perception of me inside of Memphis versus outside of Memphis is pretty drastically different, specifically in the way that I talk about the University of Memphis,” he says. “I think I think non-Memphians think that I am too positive about the Tigers and talk too much about Memphis, more than it deserves. In the market, I’m like the guy that Memphis fans think hates on Memphis. They genuinely believe that I despise Memphis, which is just not true.”

Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) | Twitter

Carrington Harrison hosts the afternoon drive show on 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City. He told me that any discussion about baseball and the idea that it is a dying sport is not easy. The answer is nuanced and listeners aren’t always here for nuance. How do you succinctly say that baseball is dying except for the places where it isn’t?

“We don’t have national conversations about baseball anymore,” Harrison explains. “The only way we have national conversations about baseball is when there are historic single game feats. Tomorrow, if someone pitched a perfect game, we would talk about it, of course, or a fight happens. Those are the only times we talk. Or a big contract is given out. Tomorrow, if they gave a player 400 million dollars, everybody in sports would be talking about it.”

Occasionally, I’ll exchange Twitter messages with Sports Map Radio mid day host Jake Asman. He hosts a show with a national perspective. I wanted to get his take.

Asman echoes Harrison’s idea that baseball doesn’t have the popularity problems on the local level that the sport does nationally, but he also thinks there are some real problems in terms of the sport’s ability to build a new generation of fans.

“The pace of play and lack of action besides strikeouts and homers is a major turnoff to a lot of fans. I also think every team going all in on analytics is not a great way to attract fans to your sport.”

So what if he were to say that on air? Is there anything special a host has to do or anything special that he/she needs to consider if he/she is planning to be critical of a league? What about if he/she is being critical of a team as an entity rather than sounding off on their on-field performance?

“I would treat criticism of a team or league as I would treat criticizing a player or coach during a segment. I would make sure that I am well informed on the topic I am going to be critical of and I would never make things personal,” Jake says in a DM.

Jake Asman Moves To Mid Days On SB Nation Radio | Barrett Sports Media

That seems like basic advice, right? It does answer my question though. No, there is nothing special you have to do, nothing more you owe to the audience if you are talking about an institutional problem with a sport or any other non-human entity.

Cline tells me that the idea of being unfair to a team is something that exclusively lives with fans. He worked in markets across Florida before moving to South Carolina. In the entire time covering college football, the only people that have ever accused him of having an agenda are fans.

“I have never gotten a single call from an athletic department person at either Florida or South Carolina complaining about anything I’ve ever said,” he texted. “It’s possible my bosses have and kept it from me, but I think if you’re honest, can back what you say up with facts and don’t make things personal there’s really no way they can complain too much.”

According to Harrison, the audience wants to be told they are right or that they have a good idea. When it comes to local media, fans expect to hear why their optimism isn’t unfounded or why following their team isn’t time wasted.

“I think in really any form of media, and I think we see it in sports, we also see it in news, there’s some implied confirmation bias,” Harrison says. “Like, you want to hear people that agree with your point of view. And if you’re listening to local radio, you want to hear the conversations come from a local perspective.”

That is an interesting idea and one with a lot of merit. There will always be a segment of the audience that believes a local perspective means one that sings the praises of the home team. There might even be a segment of the audience that believes a sports media perspective should always be deferential to sports and teams when we aren’t addressing issues on the field. I can see how someone could get there. I don’t think it is right, but we’re dealing with a fan brain, and you can connect those dots.

When it comes to the concept of “fan brain,” Parrish is a little less eloquent and a little more blunt.

“It’s just that fans, and this is something you have to always remind yourself, they don’t often want to hear the truth.”

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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