What you see is what you get

One of the perks of going to broadcasting school like I did at CSB is that I got to go to basketball games when the Hornets were in town. I held the cable wire from the camera guy under the basket and during timeouts. Unlike the fans, I had to be there two or three hours before game time. The guy in charge was man named Lou. He is the middle man for everything involved Charlotte sports. You didn't want to mess up or end up being where I'm at. I did okay but mistakes were made. Anyway.

You got to see players work with coaches. I saw assistant coach Lee Rose working with Hornets player, George Zidek. It wasn't just one time. Ever game, he did this. Footwook on offense from the the catch to post moves as well feet shuffle on defense. Mostly, I remember offensive moves. Later on, Tony Delk was wearing a parachute suit with strings attached to his waist and shoulders. Lee would hold and stretch the string portion to the free throw line while Tony was jumping underneath the basket. He had to jump and land with perfect balance. If he leaned just a little bit on one side of the body or favored a shoulder, foot, hip, knee or any body part, he had to do it again.

Most of the Hornet players particular the starters would show up later on, 45 minutes before game time. The camera crew, ticker ushers, coaches, trainers, and ball boys would start appearing as well as fans who had ties to the players. They would go into their character mode, go over plays, camera angles, lighting, scripts, ifb's, commercials, player interviews, product promotion while out of breaks or during action, and makeup. Before a game is just as busy as game action. Preparation to the game is where the the real money is made. Therefore, these folks are not easy people to talk to. They can Rasheed Wallace on you in a hurry if you tick them off.

Announcers go into character mode when the camera is on and than change when the camera is off. Sometimes, they change from bad to good but mostly its good to bad. They are just as bad as players to fans when it comes to interactions. They don't want to do nothing with you and some are just assholes. Its not like the fans ask for their autographs. I know I didn't. Most times, I just said hi but they would brush off and be their prima donna self. You talk about Bill Russell not signing autographs, announcers are worse.

What you see is what get from Bill Raftery. On camera, he is very enthusiastic and hyper with all those phrases. Before I met him, I thought he was annoying. Somebody who worked too hard to please like a girl on a date. I met him off camera after he interviewed Kendall Gill for the New Jersey Nets during a game in Charlotte. I was holding cable for a camera man. Usually, we only broadcast or videotape the Charlotte Hornets team. However, something went wrong with the Nets camera or they decided that they would use the Hornets camera guy. The interview with Kendall went well, surprising, considering that Bill got on him for not hustling during that year and Kendall had some choice words but Bill spoke to him positively and patted him on the back as if to say "go get em, kid. I'm behind you."

After he finished the interview, I introduced myself told him about one of the games that he did. The game involved UNC-Charlotte during the flu or measles epidemic at a college in the Northeast where no fans showed up. He related something to Charlotte concerning the late coach, Al McGuire. Talked about Al coaching at at a small Catholic school, Belmont Abbey near Charlotte. Mentioned that Al would get New York players by placing a picture of the Duke campus on the Belmont Abbey's brochure. I made a mention of this and he looked at me, smiled and said, "Good memory" and told me that I was very knowledgeable.

He was very enthusiastic about what I had to say because of personality of wanting to make everyone happy. Unlike some announcers when the camera is off, they want to leave or move on the next segment. Mind you, I'm not saying anything but, "Hi" but like the movie "Bull Durham" where the bat boy tells Crash Davis to get a hit, he tells him to shut-up. Therefore, when you hear an announcer criticize a player for not relating to fans or giving autographs most likely the announcer is the player unless he is Bill Raftery. From Bill, "What you see is what you get."