2015, Here We Go
Freelancing is the most flexible, exhilarating, stressful, awesome approach to having a career. Case in point: With contracts in the air and scheduling a bit late, I entered the month of December with no clue when/where or if I would be working in early 2015. I guess I was optimistic. Sources close to the situation informed me that it would likely work out.
It has. But, the time off over the long holiday allowed me to prepare my accountant, while also looking back at the year that was.
I’ve had this conversation with a number of peers and most of us agree: We get more excited to get gigs than to actually work them. I’ve called buzzer-beating winners, countless championship moments, holed-out golf shots and inspirational feats, yet I get more excited when the phone rings and somebody books me to work. I think it has something to do with being a fierce competitor. Almost all broadcasters have a formative, primal connection to sports. We can’t compete with the athletes we call, but we can compete with ourselves, our peers and the industry. It’s a brutal business, and you try to win.
But, it is healthy to always look back, reflect on what was accomplished, and just find a way to appreciate the ride. I may not be working in broadcasting in five years, but nothing will ever take away my stack of credentials, my library of DVDs/CDs or the archived moments of sports history. Some day, maybe I will have a job. For now, I have a dream journey. A journey that, in 2014, featured:
– 16 states
– 62,346 airline miles
– 6,780 miles in the car
– 10 sports covered in some way (m/w basketball, golf, curling, volleyball, men’s gymnastics, soccer, football, wrestling, tennis, softball)
– 3 levels (high school, college and professional)
– 5 mediums (TV, radio, internet, satellite, print)
– 8 clients (PGA Tour Radio, SiriusXM, Horizon League, ESPN3, ESPNU, NCAA, Fox Sports Indiana, IHSAA)
In the end, by my rough calculation, between talk shows, selection shows and play-by-play, I talked about sports for 554 hours in 2014. That’s 6.3% of the entire year. Not enough!
Will Haskett 