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Courtesy of sportsannouncerdatabase.com Picozzi (right)[/caption]
Bob Picozzi: A sportscaster, a legend, a man with a smooth, gruff and easygoing voice with a deep undertone in every word he speaks, rolls out smoothly as Matthew McConaughey’s voice in the Lincoln MKC commercial.
Picozzi, an anchor for ESPN Radio’s Sports Center and a regular play-by-play announcer for college basketball and football for ESPN television and radio, visited Seton Hall University’s WSOU station on Jan. 27.
The two-hour session consisted of the staff at WSOU and students from Pirate Sports Network, who were also invited, as they learned and discussed sports broadcasting and journalism.
“Bob ran it as a very open Q&A session where both students came and encouraged students to come with questions, challenges which they’ve faced and things that they want to learn to do better when it comes to calling a game, doing a profile on an athlete, whatever it might be,” Mark Maben, general manager at WSOU, said. “This was much more, let’s get into the nitty-gritty, interactive, problem-solve, let’s place some tape and get some critiques experience so it was a great.”
The experience is part of a lunch and learns program that allows students to learn from professionals in the industry like Picozzi, who started at WSOU then went to work at a local station on the Jersey shore. He then worked at a station in New Haven (WNHC) and after working at other radio stations, he earned an award for best sports coverage.
“Quite frankly, every sports broadcaster who we’ve brought in shares the same message which shows that it’s important and is exactly what Bob stressed of how critical it is to do your homework and do your research and be prepared before a game,” Maben said.
The stats and numbers along with having a distinct style while laying out what happens during a sports games can evolve which can lead to being a distinguished broadcaster.
“Bob was outstanding, he told us about his path to ESPN and what he’s learned along the way,” Clayton Collier, a senior journalism major and WSOU sports director, said.
Play-by-play calls in sports broadcasting is an art that will always need fine-tuning with experience.
"I learned a lot from him, mostly to be aggressive and to step out of your comfort zone. I learned to keep pushing, whether it be for an internship, job, or for a higher position in your career," said Jordyn Puchino, a junior broadcasting major with a concentration in radio and a DJ and co-host of the specialty show, Under the Stars.
Puchino said that what she thinks makes Picozzi distinct is his knowledge on sports as he knows exactly what he is speaking about while calling a game or anchoring.
WSOU does a series throughout the year where people from various backgrounds and industries visit and discuss with the staff at the station. The lunch and learns series tends to focus on a particular topic, but there are times where it is open to other departments and students when the focus and visitor meets a broader appeal.
Maben added that the only negative part of lunch and learns is the occasion that there isn’t a good showing of students or a guest who is planned to show is unable to make it.
Nisha Desai can be reached at nisha.desai@student.shu.edu.
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