Latest / The Starfish Storytellers / Season 2, Episode 7: Sports Stories Put the Audience in the Game w/ Shawn Hutcheon

Transcript

Season 2, Episode 7: Sports Stories Put the Audience in the Game w/ Shawn Hutcheon · The Starfish Storytellers

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Starfish Storytellers, the podcast that makes a difference one story
• 0:04
  at a time by bringing storytelling to life.
• 0:08
  To honor and a privilege to be a sports reporter, sports journalist, especially in the Boston
• 0:20
  area, there's so many great teams, great players, great coaches to cover.
• 0:26
  Being able to cover the Boston Bruins like I do, I grew up as a Bruins fan.
• 0:32
  And it's always fun to talk with the present day players and coaches and management, but
• 0:38
  the real thrill is speaking with the old, I don't want to say old timers, but the former
• 0:44
  players, the alumni.
• 0:47
  Players like Bobby Orr, Johnny Buse, Phyllis Vizito, Jerry Cheeters, Derek Sanderson, Ontario
• 0:54
  Riley, on and on and on.
• 0:56
  And for me, I had one of my first experiences of speaking with one of those great legends
• 1:03
  of the game.
• 1:04
  I was walking down a hallway at TD Garden and it was under the stands.
• 1:10
  And walking down this hallway and all of a sudden around the corner comes an older man
• 1:14
  coming towards me.
• 1:15
  And I realized, oh my gosh, that's Johnny Busek.
• 1:19
  And here he was, he won two Stanley Cups with a big bad Bruins team back in 1970, 1972.
• 1:25
  And around that time was when I was just beginning to become a fan of the Bruins and with all
• 1:30
  my friends in the neighborhood.
• 1:31
  So we would play street hockey and we'd be like, oh, I'm Bobby Orr, oh, I'm Johnny Busek,
• 1:35
  oh, I'm Phyllis Vizito.
• 1:37
  So all of a sudden, and all these years later, here comes Johnny Busek around the corner.
• 1:42
  And like I said, I basically froze in my tracks thinking this is Johnny Busek.
• 1:46
  What do I say?
• 1:47
  Do I say anything?
• 1:48
  Is it okay to say anything?
• 1:50
  And so I just stood there for a second.
• 1:51
  Johnny Busek came around the corner, big smile on his face.
• 1:54
  And he says to me, hello, young man.
• 1:57
  And I'm like almost 50 years old at that time.
• 1:59
  So I really like that.
• 2:01
  But he says, hello, young man.
• 2:02
  And I just said, hello, Mr. Busek, how are you?
• 2:04
  When he stopped and he looked at me, he says, like I told everyone else in my life, I'm
• 2:09
  either John or I'm Chief.
• 2:11
  I'm not Mr. Busek.
• 2:13
  And I was like, okay, Chief.
• 2:16
  That's how I said it too.
• 2:17
  I had that hesitation because I wanted to say Mr. Busek.
• 2:19
  I said, okay, Chief, and he just went about, you know, went past me and I went down the
• 2:24
  hallway and I can't tell you what else happened the rest of that day because that was one
• 2:29
  of the highlights of my life.
• 2:32
  Other thing that was really a big thrill for me was, and it wasn't even at a Bruins game
• 2:36
  or a TD garden.
• 2:37
  I was at a game at UMass Lowell.
• 2:39
  And I was trying to open the door and we'll get into it a little later about how I covered
• 2:43
  UMass Lowell hockey team for the local newspaper Lowell Sun.
• 2:47
  But I was trying to get into the press room, press box, and I opened the door.
• 2:51
  It's a push door.
• 2:52
  So I go to push on it and there's this man standing in the way.
• 2:56
  And I'm like, okay, he'll move.
• 2:58
  And I go and I kind of like gently push on just a little bit kind of like, you know,
• 3:02
  one of those things where like, I don't want to knock you over, sir, but I need to get
• 3:05
  in here.
• 3:06
  And I see his grayest blondest hair, the back of a head, but gray blond hair.
• 3:11
  And then this younger, younger gentleman across from him says, oh, dad, someone wants to come
• 3:17
  in and the man turns around, he opens the door and it's Bobby Orr.
• 3:23
  And he looks at me with his big smile and like, and Bobby Orr was my idol growing up.
• 3:29
  So he looks at me with his big smile, puts his hand out.
• 3:31
  He says, hi, I'm Bob.
• 3:33
  Now you would think I would have said, hello, I'm Sean.
• 3:36
  No, I looked at him.
• 3:38
  I put my hand out.
• 3:39
  I said, I know.
• 3:41
  So he just looked at me.
• 3:43
  He laughed.
• 3:44
  And then I said, I mean, I'm Sean.
• 3:46
  He laughed and it turned out the younger man across from him was his son.
• 3:50
  So he's laughing.
• 3:52
  And we spoke for about 20 minutes just talking hockey and he was just the nicest, kindest,
• 3:59
  most, you can see, he was just compassionate.
• 4:01
  You can see why everybody has nothing but good things to say about Bobby Orr other than
• 4:06
  he was probably, well, in my mind, the greatest player who ever played the game and many people
• 4:11
  would say the same.
• 4:13
  But he's just a very, very nice man.
• 4:16
  And you can see that.
• 4:17
  And he didn't have to talk to me for 20 minutes, but he did.
• 4:21
  And I was, I had always grown up thinking, you grow up, you think, well, if I meet my
• 4:25
  hero, I'm going to say this, I'm going to say that.
• 4:27
  And I had the chance to do it and let him know what a fan I was and how he really impacted
• 4:33
  my life because I watched him and I decided I want to be a hockey player.
• 4:38
  And so meeting him was just, again, one of the biggest thrills of my life.
• 4:42
  And I was covering the game, the hockey game for the newspaper.
• 4:48
  That whole first period was a bluer to me because all I kept thinking was, I met Bobby
• 4:52
  Orr, I met my hero.
• 4:54
  And it's just, that's, to me, that's the best part of being a sports writer, a sports journalist.
• 5:01
  And I love telling the stories of the present day players and the teams and the coaches.
• 5:06
  But again, the huge, to me, a huge benefit is meeting your heroes like that.
• 5:36
  Hello, my name is Leanna Henry and welcome to the Starfish Storytellers.
• 5:44
  I'm the CEO of the Black Dog Group, a Marcom and project management firm headquartered on
• 5:49
  the East Coast, the U.S. and Quaint Colonial Bedford, Massachusetts.
• 5:53
  I'm your host and passionate about storytelling.
• 5:56
  I'm actually on a mission to raise up the next generation of storytellers.
• 5:59
  We've named ourselves the Starfish Storytellers after the Starfish Story.
• 6:03
  The moral of the Starfish Story is based on the power of one.
• 6:07
  No matter how big the challenge, each action we take makes a difference and has an impact.
• 6:11
  One step, one starfish, or one story at a time.
• 6:15
  Every episode we welcome a new storyteller who will share their story, meant to inspire
• 6:19
  and connect with you.
• 6:20
  Then we'll break it down and offer tips for any listeners who are ready to tell their
• 6:24
  own stories.
• 6:25
  So thanks for tuning in.
• 6:26
  Now let's get started.
• 6:28
  Today's episode is about successful sports storytelling, putting the audience into the
• 6:33
  game.
• 6:34
  And with me today is my friend, Sean Hutchin, correspondent of the Boston Bruins Media
• 6:38
  Program for the fourth period magazine, Sports Radio Commentator, member of the Professional
• 6:43
  Hockey Writers Association, and a hockey player rep and skills coach.
• 6:48
  But I knew him before he got big when he was a sports writer for my little Bill Ricker
• 6:52
  Green magazine so many moons ago.
• 6:55
  It is really good to see you and it's awesome to catch up.
• 6:58
  Thank you.
• 6:59
  It's awesome.
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  You're right.
• 7:01
  That's the word.
• 7:02
  It's awesome to see you and to catch up.
• 7:03
  And I mean, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you because way back in, it was 09, 010
• 7:09
  when you had the Bill Ricker Green.
• 7:13
  I remember, some way, somehow I contacted you.
• 7:17
  Of course, we knew each other before that because my daughter, your son went to school
• 7:21
  together.
• 7:22
  I remember contacting you and for the previous to the, or prior, I'm sorry, to the 2010 Olympics,
• 7:29
  Winter Olympics.
• 7:30
  And I knew that there were three former Bill Ricker hockey players who played in the Olympics.
• 7:35
  And so I suggested maybe a story would be good that the people of Bill Ricker would like
• 7:38
  to do that.
• 7:39
  And I remember you saying to me, well, I've read your blogs.
• 7:41
  I had a little online blog going and you said, I've read your blogs.
• 7:45
  Why don't you write the story?
• 7:46
  And I was petrified.
• 7:47
  But with your help and your coaching and guidance and mentorship, it made it into print.
• 7:53
  And that's how it all began.
• 7:54
  So I'm thrilled to be here.
• 7:56
  And I'm just, I can't thank you enough.
• 7:58
  Oh, Sean, you're making me blush.
• 8:01
  People can't see that on the podcast though because it's audio.
• 8:05
  So it's been, it's been over a decade since we worked together that way.
• 8:11
  But you have done so much.
• 8:13
  I like to, I like to think that I wear a lot of hats, but my goodness, you, you're wearing
• 8:19
  a lot of hats.
• 8:20
  So can you maybe tell us a little bit more about like, where have you been?
• 8:24
  What have you been up to in the last decade?
• 8:25
  I mean, this is amazing.
• 8:27
  Yeah.
• 8:28
  The last decade, I kind of through the writing, of course, I kept writing after Bill Ricker
• 8:34
  Green wrote for a cover, started covering the Bruins for a couple of little websites
• 8:39
  that don't even exist anymore, but it progressed to Bleacher Report and then ESPN, New Hampshire,
• 8:48
  and then to where I am now with the fourth period, which is, which is a magazine and
• 8:52
  website based in Toronto, but I'm the Boston correspondent and I've been with them since
• 8:56
  2012.
• 8:58
  And credential member of the Bruins media organization since 2012, at the end of that
• 9:06
  season.
• 9:07
  I've also been coaching, I've been in hockey all my life, so I've been coaching teams from
• 9:14
  the U16 level, the U18 level in 2013.
• 9:18
  I was very fortunate to coach with my son with the U18, the Ponset Valley River Rats,
• 9:24
  and we won the USA Hockey National Championship together.
• 9:27
  And that was a thrill, big thrill.
• 9:31
  And I've also moved on, I've covered the UMass Lowell Hockey team for the Lowell Sun
• 9:35
  newspaper for five, I did that for five years.
• 9:38
  As a player rep and family advisor, United States, they're called family advisors, Canada,
• 9:43
  they're called agents.
• 9:45
  What I do there is I help players for usually ages 14, 15 through 19 or 20, help them guide
• 9:54
  their way on their own individual path because not every path is the same for every player
• 9:59
  as they grow up.
• 10:00
  So I help them and their families maneuver those paths that are right for them where
• 10:04
  they'll be most successful on the ice and then in the classroom and up to and including
• 10:10
  when they get to college to play college hockey.
• 10:13
  I've also had some players go and play pro hockey, so that's been a lot of fun too.
• 10:17
  Skills coach, it's on the ice doing just that, coaching skills and teaching youngsters,
• 10:23
  well teaching them some skills and hoping that they'll get better and usually, I mean,
• 10:28
  basically leading the horse to water and hoping they'll drink.
• 10:32
  Just do, which is great, it's so much fun to see them progress.
• 10:36
  We work with my son and I do that together, we work with the from learn to skate children
• 10:41
  all the way up to and including players in the NHL.
• 10:43
  So yeah, when I sit back and think about it, that's quite a few hats.
• 10:48
  Yeah, quite a journey.
• 10:50
  Yes, yes.
• 10:51
  So are you in skates like every day?
• 10:55
  Mostly.
• 10:57
  Actually, the summertime is our busy time for skills coaching because that off season
• 11:03
  is when the players really have the time and put in that time and effort into becoming
• 11:08
  better players.
• 11:09
  So yeah, usually summertime between the start of June, end of May, start of June until the
• 11:17
  last week of August.
• 11:19
  I'm on the ice four days a week and about four hours per day.
• 11:24
  Wow.
• 11:25
  And when you're not on the ice, you're still probably near a rink, right?
• 11:30
  Yes, yes.
• 11:31
  And you must spend a fair amount of time at TD Garden.
• 11:34
  I do.
• 11:35
  Yeah, I, because of the other endeavors I have, I have the full credential membership
• 11:41
  for the Bruins so I can go to all the games and be in the press box.
• 11:45
  But they're really great about it.
• 11:47
  They play 41 home games and I usually get to about 30 and then all the playoff games.
• 11:54
  I might all the playoff games as well.
• 11:57
  But they have some strict guidelines that if we issue a full season membership, you
• 12:03
  should be at all the games.
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  But as I say, they've been really great about it and understanding.
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  And as they said, as long as you can get to the majority of the games, then we're okay.
• 12:12
  So that's what I do.
• 12:14
  So I really loved your story about heroes and for so many athletes are their heroes.
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  I don't know what it is.
• 12:27
  I don't know if it's, you know, you see them do these amazing things.
• 12:30
  You're in awe and it inspires you to want to be like them, I would imagine.
• 12:36
  You know, when we talk about sports storytelling, you know, a really good sports writer or sports
• 12:42
  storyteller is going to be able to convey the action on the field or the ice for the
• 12:48
  audience in a way that's, they're going to be able to resonate.
• 12:51
  They're going to empathize.
• 12:52
  They're going to see.
• 12:53
  I mean, I guess it's different.
• 12:55
  I mean, I would imagine for you because you deal with these people face to face.
• 13:01
  So there you know that they're real people.
• 13:03
  Whereas in your story, when you met some of these folks for the first time, I mean, they
• 13:08
  had been your heroes.
• 13:09
  Like they were, they were maybe not, it may not have seen real at first, I would think.
• 13:14
  Oh, absolutely.
• 13:15
  Yes, you're absolutely right spot on.
• 13:17
  I'll never forget that first day that I had the credential when I went to a practice at
• 13:23
  TD garden for one's practice.
• 13:25
  And of course, after the practice, the league rule was at 10 minutes after practice is over,
• 13:31
  the dressing room opens up for the media.
• 13:34
  And there are usually several players who are available to the media.
• 13:37
  It's not the entire team, but each time several players are made available.
• 13:41
  I remember walking in the door that, that, that dressing room and it all came back.
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  It was like, I've been a fan of this team forever.
• 13:49
  And I'm now standing in the dressing room.
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  And I didn't think it showed until Dan Roach from Channel 4 WBZ, look came up, came up to
• 13:58
  me and we had never met.
• 14:00
  And he came up to me and he said, first time here, huh?
• 14:03
  Oh, so I looked, I guess it was obvious.
• 14:06
  Yes, when I was it, I said, does it show?
• 14:08
  He says, oh yeah.
• 14:09
  And I said, and I just said, yeah, this is a big thrill.
• 14:13
  And he says, you know what he says, we want to just kind of stick by my side and see kind
• 14:17
  of how things have done with your first day.
• 14:20
  Feel free to tag along with me.
• 14:22
  And, and, and I did, I didn't ask players questions.
• 14:25
  I just, the old, the old adage kept my mouth closed and my eyes open and, and learned a
• 14:31
  lot in that one day.
• 14:33
  But yeah, that was, that was the thing.
• 14:35
  It was seeing these players and of course I'm older.
• 14:38
  Some of them at that time I was old enough to be their father.
• 14:41
  Now it's like I'm old enough to be some of their grandfather, some of the grandfather,
• 14:45
  some of the players, but, but you're right.
• 14:47
  You see the players like a Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand back, back in those days, they
• 14:51
  just won the Stanley Cup.
• 14:53
  And so Zidane O'Chara, that group.
• 14:57
  And I was at a standing there saying, oh my gosh, there's, there's Patrice.
• 15:00
  Oh my gosh, there's Big Z.
• 15:03
  And I can't talk to him if I want to.
• 15:05
  This is, this is, is this happening?
• 15:06
  Is this real?
• 15:07
  You know, pinch me.
• 15:08
  When you, okay.
• 15:10
  So the first time you, you hung out with the guy from WBZ.
• 15:13
  All right.
• 15:14
  But then you actually had to go in and interview people.
• 15:16
  I would imagine after that.
• 15:19
  Did you ever feel like, oh my God, I hope my questions are good.
• 15:24
  Like I hope, I hope I'm asking good questions.
• 15:26
  I'm sure now it's like nothing to you because you've been doing it for so long, but how
• 15:30
  was that at the beginning?
• 15:31
  Like right at the beginning, did you feel like I'm stumbling over myself?
• 15:34
  Like, or did you feel confident?
• 15:36
  Oh no, I did stumble over my words.
• 15:39
  Really?
• 15:40
  Yeah.
• 15:41
  And I, and I did it with each and every question.
• 15:43
  Because I'm, as I'm asking question A, my mind is saying, okay, question B sounds ridiculous.
• 15:49
  Reward it.
• 15:50
  Question C. No, don't ask this, ask that.
• 15:52
  You know, and, and so that was the thing that, like you say, I was so nervous and, and I
• 15:58
  was talking with Zeday N'Chara and, and now, and of course, physically, he was physically
• 16:02
  imposing.
• 16:03
  He's a nice, niceest man you could ever meet.
• 16:06
  But still six foot nine, 260 pounds.
• 16:09
  I mean, I know, and I'm five foot seven, 175 pounds.
• 16:13
  So you know, I'm like, I hope I don't irritate this man.
• 16:16
  One him on my side.
• 16:18
  Yeah.
• 16:19
  And so, yes, I did.
• 16:20
  I was very nervous.
• 16:21
  I did stumble over my words.
• 16:23
  I did think, okay, that question that just came out of my mouth was ridiculous, but we'll
• 16:27
  see what he says.
• 16:28
  And, and, and these players, not only from drawings, but all these other teams I was
• 16:32
  spoken with, they're used to this.
• 16:34
  You know, they understand that, okay, this, this is someone new.
• 16:37
  I've had players when I was new, a couple of the players where they even said that to
• 16:41
  me, they're, okay, we understand, you know, you're new.
• 16:43
  We haven't seen you here.
• 16:44
  Relax.
• 16:45
  Take your time.
• 16:46
  We're not going anywhere.
• 16:47
  And that was, you know, and that, that really helped, helped a lot.
• 16:50
  Right.
• 16:51
  So when you're writing stories for the publication or because you're still doing the radio comment,
• 16:58
  your radio commentator as well.
• 17:01
  But when you're writing stories for the publication, do you find that like, do you have a lot
• 17:07
  of opportunity to actually do like a more expanded storytelling or do you find that
• 17:15
  some, sometimes you're just kind of limited to, I got to give the stats.
• 17:19
  I got to talk about what happened at the game.
• 17:21
  I need to just talk about the score.
• 17:23
  I need to name the players.
• 17:25
  Do you have, what kind of, do you have any leeway in being able to do some storytelling?
• 17:30
  I do.
• 17:31
  Yeah.
• 17:32
  And actually my editor in chief at the fourth period, his name's Dave Paniota.
• 17:37
  If hockey fans, if they've watched the NHL network, they've seen him on the NHL network.
• 17:42
  He's really great about that.
• 17:43
  He would prefer that actually.
• 17:45
  He'll say, okay, write a story about, I would like to have you write a story about Brad
• 17:51
  Marchand.
• 17:52
  And of course he'll say, add, you need to put in how many goals he scored this year or
• 17:56
  says, think, what a penalty minutes, whatever.
• 17:59
  But I want to hear more.
• 18:00
  I want to hear maybe, like if it's a story about Brad, how did you get to, where you
• 18:07
  are today?
• 18:08
  He just became captain of the Bruins this year.
• 18:09
  So not only how does it feel to be the captain of the Bruins, okay, when you began with the
• 18:15
  Bruins all those years ago, you were a fourth line player who wasn't, a lot wasn't expected
• 18:22
  of you.
• 18:23
  And then you kind of became, he kind of became what's known as the pest.
• 18:25
  You know, he would just get, try to get under other player skins.
• 18:29
  And then he just blossomed into one of the best players in hockey.
• 18:32
  And so it's what I like to do and say, okay, let's talk about that journey.
• 18:36
  Let's talk about how that, you went through those phases.
• 18:40
  Now you're the captain, you're regarded as a superstar in the game.
• 18:44
  So what did it take?
• 18:45
  What were you thinking?
• 18:47
  What were you feeling?
• 18:48
  How did you get there?
• 18:50
  And talk about players who, everyone likes to talk about themselves, at least to an extent.
• 18:55
  So he or any other player, they like to talk about those things.
• 19:00
  And they'll give you really great answers.
• 19:04
  And they appreciate that.
• 19:05
  Yes, I do like to write about more than just the score of the game was one to nothing.
• 19:11
  And here's who scored the goal or scored the goals in another game or things like that.
• 19:15
  I want to, basically what we're here about, right?
• 19:18
  Tell the story.
• 19:19
  I like, I like learning people's stories, their backgrounds and how they got to where
• 19:23
  they are.
• 19:24
  And that's what I try to do for the most part when I, when I write about these players.
• 19:28
  I would imagine, because you've been in hockey forever, but I would imagine that you've,
• 19:32
  you have done a fair amount of reading and watching lots of sports stories.
• 19:38
  Was there a particular style that you sort of gravitated toward of how, like somebody
• 19:45
  who was a writer that you admired or somebody who was a broadcaster that you admired, you
• 19:50
  know, can you maybe talk a little bit about like, was there a style that you sort of,
• 19:55
  you kind of looked up to them or you were inspired by and you feel like, you know, that's
• 19:59
  kind of where you sort of your trajectory followed or?
• 20:02
  Yeah.
• 20:03
  There's a writer with Boston Globe, Kevin Paul Dupont.
• 20:07
  He's covered the Baroans for, I want to say around 40 years now and still does today and
• 20:14
  I've been fortunate enough to get to know Kevin Paul and he's giving me a lot of pointers
• 20:19
  and things.
• 20:21
  So he's someone that was growing up in over the years.
• 20:25
  I would open up to Boston Globe, especially on his, read his columns on Sundays and his
• 20:30
  style I really liked because he was a storyteller.
• 20:33
  He would not only say, okay, well so-and-so isn't playing great.
• 20:36
  Here's how.
• 20:37
  And then he would have the interview with the player.
• 20:40
  He would have an interview with the coach about that player.
• 20:43
  And so it was really, that was the style that I really liked.
• 20:46
  I mean, I would read about the game report from whoever, reporter X and then I'd go back
• 20:53
  and I would usually reread Kevin Paul Dupont story because I would say, okay, this is what
• 20:59
  I want to know.
• 21:00
  This is what I want to see.
• 21:01
  This is what I want to learn.
• 21:02
  Tell me more.
• 21:04
  And he did that.
• 21:05
  And he's in the Hockey Hall of Fame in the writer's category.
• 21:10
  And again, just I've been so fortunate to get to know him over the years covering the
• 21:16
  team and yeah, he's been really great.
• 21:19
  Another person was now the late Mike Shalen who wrote for the Boston Herald.
• 21:23
  He covered the Bruins for about 30 years.
• 21:25
  We became very close, very good friends.
• 21:29
  He was another one.
• 21:31
  We would sit and talk for hours before, during and after games about writing and writing styles.
• 21:36
  And okay, I would say, okay, well I'm thinking about doing a piece on player A. And this
• 21:42
  is what I'm thinking of doing.
• 21:43
  And he would say, that's good.
• 21:44
  Why don't you add this?
• 21:46
  Or yeah, I don't think that part, you really don't need that.
• 21:49
  Instead of this, insert this.
• 21:51
  He wouldn't edit, but he would just offer advice.
• 21:54
  And unfortunately, he passed away a short time ago from a brain tumor and miss him.
• 22:01
  He's just from everyone in the garden.
• 22:03
  They miss him.
• 22:04
  And I learned a lot from him as well.
• 22:07
  I really like what you were talking about how the guy from the globe would talk to the
• 22:13
  player, we would talk to the coach.
• 22:15
  I would imagine, and I know for me when I read sports stories, getting a full sort of
• 22:21
  expose on someone really humanizes them.
• 22:24
  I think that there is, and I'd love to hear your opinion on this, I feel like there's
• 22:33
  a certain class of fan that just kind of feels like, shut up and go do your job.
• 22:39
  I don't care if you have a thought, a feeling, a position.
• 22:43
  Just go play hockey, go throw the football.
• 22:47
  But these people are people, and they're people first.
• 22:51
  And they have a passion for what they're doing.
• 22:57
  And they have lives, they have lives on and off the ice.
• 23:01
  And I would think because you get to sit on the inside, you get to know the people.
• 23:07
  So what is your feeling on that mentality?
• 23:10
  No, yes, you're absolutely correct.
• 23:13
  There are fans out there who, like you said, all they want to know about is who scored
• 23:18
  the goals, how many goals did David Pasanak score last night?
• 23:23
  That's all they want to know.
• 23:24
  How many goals did Jeremy Swamin give up?
• 23:27
  Oh, he gave up four goals, oh, he stinks, trade him.
• 23:31
  But as you're saying, these are human beings.
• 23:34
  And I have a lot of times wherever I go, if I'm meeting someone new and they know what
• 23:40
  I do, one of the first things they'll say is, my gosh, you're so fortunate to talk to
• 23:45
  Patrice Bergeron, David Creechy, Brad Marchand, David Pasanak, Charlie McEvoy.
• 23:51
  And I'll say to them, I'll say, yes, you're right.
• 23:53
  It's a privilege and an honor because not everybody can do it.
• 23:56
  And so when someone says to me, you're so lucky to talk to them, my first reaction is, yes.
• 24:02
  But keep in mind, they're normal, everyday people like you and me, they just happen to
• 24:07
  play hockey really well, better than anybody.
• 24:11
  And it's the same thing with the football players and the baseball players and the basketball
• 24:15
  players.
• 24:16
  For the most part, they're people.
• 24:20
  And they have families, young families for the most part.
• 24:23
  And they like to go to the mall and shop.
• 24:24
  And they like to take their cars for oil changes.
• 24:28
  But they just happen to play sport extremely well, much better than the rest of us.
• 24:34
  And so yeah, there are people who don't keep that in mind.
• 24:38
  Also something that people don't keep in mind is how young these people are for the most
• 24:41
  part.
• 24:42
  You know, we're talking about people who, if it's, again, using the Bruins, if it's
• 24:47
  a Matthew Poitra, the rookie player, one of the rookies on the Bruins, he's 19.
• 24:52
  And so there are times people have seen it, have been at games where maybe he loses the
• 24:57
  puck off his stick.
• 24:58
  And the crowd is like, oh, oh my, you can hear the rumlings, like, oh, what's wrong with
• 25:03
  him?
• 25:04
  He's 19, playing against 25, 30-year-old men.
• 25:08
  You know, so that's something that I wish a lot of fans would keep in mind, so that
• 25:12
  instead of booing a player who maybe just had something go wrong on the field or on
• 25:18
  the ice, or just had a bad day, we all have bad days.
• 25:21
  Right.
• 25:22
  You know, and I understand sports, for the most part, is an escape, getting away from
• 25:26
  your bad day.
• 25:28
  But you know, Charlie McEvoy's going to have a bad day.
• 25:33
  Big Poppy had not many, but he had bad days.
• 25:37
  So it's something that I wish fans would keep in mind as well.
• 25:42
  And it would be a big help for themselves as they watch the games.
• 25:46
  And it would help the players also.
• 25:48
  Yeah.
• 25:49
  I've been in the TD Garden during a Bruins game when something didn't go right, and
• 25:53
  it wasn't just rumbling and booing.
• 25:56
  You know, Boston fans are tough.
• 25:59
  They are.
• 26:00
  They're tough.
• 26:01
  They love you to pieces when you're doing great, and they can be tough when you're not.
• 26:06
  So you've been writing now, telling sports stories for a decade, at least, right?
• 26:15
  Do you ever get the opportunity to mentor a new writer?
• 26:19
  Do you ever have you had the chance to work with any newer writers in correspondence, either
• 26:25
  for the publication that you work for or even just other people?
• 26:31
  Were you the WBZ guy to somebody else?
• 26:34
  Yes.
• 26:35
  In the locker room ever?
• 26:37
  Yes.
• 26:38
  It wasn't like someone was assigned to me.
• 26:40
  But when, of course, being in the building and in the press box game after game, you
• 26:45
  know who the familiar faces are, and you see them all the time.
• 26:49
  And then there will be a new face.
• 26:51
  And sometimes there have been a couple of times when that new face is sitting next to
• 26:55
  me, and they're real quiet, of course.
• 26:57
  You can see the confidence level isn't there yet.
• 27:03
  And so I'll say to them, just your first game or how long have you been covering the team?
• 27:07
  And oh, this is my first game.
• 27:08
  Or oh, this is my fifth game, tenth game.
• 27:11
  And I'll just say, well, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
• 27:14
  And there have been times when, yes, they've asked questions.
• 27:17
  And I'll say, OK, you know what?
• 27:18
  When it's time to go downstairs after the game, just follow me.
• 27:23
  And I'll say, if you want to ask a question, ask it.
• 27:25
  But sometimes it's better just to kind of watch and get a feel for how people do things
• 27:29
  so that you'll know exactly how it's done.
• 27:34
  And so it's just so much fun to do that.
• 27:37
  Because like you said, I can put myself into their shoes.
• 27:40
  Yeah.
• 27:41
  It's like, yeah, I've been there, and I know how that feels.
• 27:44
  It can be intimidating as all get out, as they say.
• 27:48
  And also, one thing that I was told when I first started covering the Bruins also from
• 27:55
  my friends in Toronto is that the Boston sports media can be really tough.
• 28:02
  Like, if you want to try to get a question in, if you're the new person, someone who's
• 28:06
  been there a while, they're just going to cut you off to get their question in.
• 28:10
  And so you have to learn how to navigate those waters.
• 28:13
  You know, it's just, OK, they're going to get their question, but get your question
• 28:17
  in too.
• 28:19
  And don't hesitate to get that question.
• 28:20
  Because if you do hesitate, well, you've lost that moment because now that other person
• 28:24
  will get their question in.
• 28:25
  So it is something that I'll also explain to the newer people.
• 28:31
  This is, you've got to speak up, speak up loud, and get that question in.
• 28:35
  Boom, right away.
• 28:37
  And the ones who do, they last.
• 28:40
  Yeah.
• 28:41
  I mean, you have to be assert.
• 28:42
  I mean, I see reporters always trying to get stories from athletes on the field or after
• 28:49
  a game.
• 28:51
  You even see it on national news, in the White House, all the correspondents chasing the politicians
• 28:57
  down the hallways to get the microphone under their nose and be able to capture their question.
• 29:04
  And I would imagine that's challenging.
• 29:08
  How do you, yes, you just said, get it in there.
• 29:13
  If somebody was new, would you say, OK, you want to make sure that you get into the locker
• 29:18
  room early, or you're standing as close to the player as possible, or push your way to
• 29:25
  the front?
• 29:26
  What are some tips to be able to get your question answered?
• 29:29
  Yeah, those are great questions.
• 29:31
  The room for the locker room, the door is open.
• 29:34
  Well, the way it works after a Bruins game is, you get in the elevator, go down to the
• 29:39
  third floor, which is the rink level, then go into his big press room.
• 29:43
  Because then they have a podium set up.
• 29:45
  That's where the coach will be speaking and taking questions.
• 29:49
  After he's done, which is usually roughly around four or five minutes, after he's done,
• 29:54
  now we go down the hall.
• 29:55
  We need to wait outside the locker room, for the doors to open.
• 29:59
  And sometimes it's a 30-second wait.
• 30:01
  Sometimes it's a 10-minute wait, depending on what's going on in the room.
• 30:04
  It's their room, not ours.
• 30:07
  And so then when the room opens, you try to be one of the first ones in that room, because
• 30:11
  usually there's a player standing there waiting for you.
• 30:13
  So yes, you want to be as close to that player as possible.
• 30:16
  Because if you're not, there are so many people who cover Boston sports teams, like Bruins
• 30:23
  game, on average there are 20-25 reporters from just Boston.
• 30:29
  So if you're not one of the first people in the room, you may not even see the player.
• 30:34
  You're just hoping that your microphone or your phone that has the apps for microphones,
• 30:39
  which is what I use, you're just holding it up and hoping it catches the sound.
• 30:45
  And you know you're not going to get a question in.
• 30:49
  Then as you're doing that with the first player, then all of a sudden PR people will say,
• 30:54
  okay, you'll hear a door open from the players.
• 30:56
  They have a changing room behind the dressing room, where all the equipment is hung up,
• 31:00
  where we are.
• 31:01
  So the door will open and the PR person will say, okay, well, Charlie McAvoy is available
• 31:05
  to the media.
• 31:06
  So some of the people will want to stay and talk to the first player who's out.
• 31:10
  And then others will be like, oh, I got to talk to Charlie.
• 31:12
  And they just leave.
• 31:14
  Opening your, giving you an opening to get close, which is great, because now you can
• 31:18
  be three feet away from the player and ask that question.
• 31:23
  And so you learn how to do that as well.
• 31:27
  And I've seen people behind the crowd just kind of standing there like, okay, why, why
• 31:33
  do I do?
• 31:34
  What do I do?
• 31:35
  I'm not going to be able to talk to this player and I'll say, just you need to kind of be
• 31:39
  patient from there because you will get your chance.
• 31:42
  For the most part, you'll get your chance.
• 31:44
  And the star players, you've got to get over there really fast.
• 31:49
  There are other times when the PR man or woman will say, we're waiting for Brad Marsh and
• 31:53
  to come out.
• 31:54
  And so make sure you go over to his stall, get over there as fast as you can, because
• 31:59
  if you can get right next to him, you know, or within the two or three, four feet, chances
• 32:04
  are good, you're going to be able to ask your question and have an answer.
• 32:07
  You know, and the players are great.
• 32:08
  They answer as many questions as they can.
• 32:11
  And PR people are the ones who shut off the questioning.
• 32:14
  And are there times when you don't get to answer, to ask that question because you ran
• 32:17
  out of time?
• 32:18
  Yes, but you can still use what the answers have been to someone else's question.
• 32:24
  Yep.
• 32:25
  Or someone else who asked that question and you don't have to.
• 32:28
  So you don't get to ask a question.
• 32:30
  You hold up your microphone.
• 32:33
  You still have to write a story.
• 32:35
  So how are you?
• 32:38
  What are you doing when you're writing a sports story that's going to make your story a little
• 32:42
  bit more unique?
• 32:43
  Because obviously everybody in the room is there for the game.
• 32:47
  Everybody saw the same game.
• 32:49
  Everybody saw the same score.
• 32:51
  How do you make your story different?
• 32:53
  What do you do?
• 32:54
  I usually try to approach the stories that I write from different angle from what other
• 33:00
  people will write.
• 33:01
  Like what?
• 33:02
  Well, like you said, there'll be people who will write about the scores and the game itself
• 33:07
  and the plays that led to the goals and things like that.
• 33:10
  Whereas I'm able to tell those stories so that if a player says, well, I was trying to make
• 33:15
  this play and it didn't work, well, that may not end up in someone else's story.
• 33:22
  I'll use it.
• 33:24
  And if there's something that's going on in the player's life that is public knowledge,
• 33:29
  because we all get things that is not for public consumption or we're told, don't say
• 33:34
  anything yet.
• 33:35
  So I don't.
• 33:37
  But if there's something else that is maybe, like David Pasternak and his girlfriend had
• 33:42
  a baby during the summer.
• 33:44
  So he's off to a great start.
• 33:46
  So I may say to him, you're a new dad, is that helping you play better?
• 33:52
  Is that adding to your performance?
• 33:54
  Or someone else has asked it.
• 33:56
  And then I'll say, OK, OK, that's the angle I'll take.
• 34:00
  And I think I don't want to sound like I'm on a high horse.
• 34:08
  But I think my background in the game helps me find or look for those things.
• 34:14
  If I didn't have a background in the game, I'd be content writing about the scores and
• 34:19
  all of that.
• 34:20
  But this way I know the work that, as you mentioned earlier, right?
• 34:24
  The work and the practice.
• 34:25
  And so it's kind of like, I can say, and I've asked players like a Mac Rizlik, I noticed
• 34:29
  that your shot is harder this season.
• 34:32
  What did you do to make it harder?
• 34:34
  How did you work on it?
• 34:35
  What are the techniques?
• 34:36
  You know, things like that.
• 34:37
  You're using a different stick, a different brand, things like that.
• 34:39
  And so, and he was great about answering.
• 34:42
  He wanted to sit down and talk about that.
• 34:43
  Because no one's asked him that.
• 34:45
  So I try to find something a different angle, a different way to get the story across that
• 34:50
  I think fans would like to read.
• 34:51
  I think that's huge.
• 34:53
  What you're saying, I always wonder, like, sports commentators and reporters, some have
• 35:01
  to cover all sports.
• 35:03
  You have the opportunity to cover the sport that is what you have the most experience
• 35:07
  in.
• 35:08
  And I imagine the stuff that you write or the way you write is going to sound really
• 35:14
  different than somebody who's just a journalist at a journalism school who likes sports.
• 35:19
  Yes.
• 35:20
  Do you know what I mean?
• 35:21
  Yes.
• 35:22
  It's got to be, the nuances that you would be able to pick up on, I think, are just probably
• 35:26
  going to be so much more refined and just different.
• 35:30
  That's yeah, different is, I think, is the perfect word for it.
• 35:35
  I admire everyone who goes to journalism school.
• 35:39
  I mean, it comes out, I mean, I have that unconventional way of getting to where I am.
• 35:43
  I don't have the journalism degree or the English degree.
• 35:47
  It was just, as I mentioned earlier, right?
• 35:49
  I started writing a vlog, you saw it, and that's how it all began.
• 35:54
  But yes, having the background in the game itself, going back to when I was nine years
• 35:58
  old, starting to play, and then just meeting and talking with players and coaches and everyone
• 36:04
  and everyone in the game, I can.
• 36:07
  I'm fortunate enough that I'm able to pick out those little nuances, as you say, and
• 36:11
  put them into pieces that I write.
• 36:13
  Yeah.
• 36:14
  Hockey is your life.
• 36:15
  It is.
• 36:16
  It is.
• 36:17
  My kids were born, I met their mom in a rink.
• 36:20
  Yeah, there you go.
• 36:21
  Yes.
• 36:22
  So it's even in their blood, I think.
• 36:24
  I think it is.
• 36:25
  Well, that's all the time we have for today.
• 36:28
  Thank you so much for coming and being on the show.
• 36:32
  I think I just loved being able to talk shop around journalism, but just really hearing
• 36:39
  how great it is that you get to be rubbing elbows with these players and just how exciting
• 36:45
  that's got to be.
• 36:46
  Yeah, thank you for having me.
• 36:48
  It's been so much fun doing this.
• 36:51
  And to our listeners, whether you hear us locally from the BTV studios in Bedford, Massachusetts,
• 36:56
  or across the globe on such podcast channels as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Prime,
• 37:01
  thanks for listening.
• 37:03
  We hope you enjoyed this episode and we'll see you next time.
• 37:06
  Happy storytelling.