Ezra Gennello is in his third season as the Director of Broadcasting and Communications for the Muskegon Lumberjacks. Here's how he prepares for his broadcasts.
It's 7 p.m. Eastern Time in Muskegon, Michigan, and that means the Lumberjacks are about to get underway.
Ezra Gennello, the Voice of the Jacks, opens the broadcast by welcoming all viewers at home. His goal is to make everyone feel like a part of the broadcast team, no matter where they are located. At just 24 years old, Gennello is in his third season as the team's Director of Broadcasting and Communications.
On game days, he is at the facility from 9 AM to 1 AM.
He assists with game presentations and ticket and sponsorship sales, coordinates all media requests, creates game day graphics, and runs the pregame show on Facebook Live, in addition to his play-by-play responsibilities.
Here’s how Gennello prepares for and manages a solo broadcast.
Being in the business office all day, at what point do you switch gears to get ready for the broadcast?
Gennello: I definitely think the preparation is key and the preparation definitely starts before game day. Just throughout the week, getting notes created, thinking about storylines, and making sure I'm on top of everything going on around the team.
Then, on game day, I typically am the one that picks up our staff meal, so at about four o'clock, I'll go grab the meal, come back, and then right from there, everybody kind of knows like 'Don't text (Ezra) if it doesn't have to do with the broadcast.' I'm in the booth, putting the final touches on and getting ready.
What does a broadcaster do during the intermissions, and how does that compare to being at home or on the road?
Gennello: The intermission is where I see the most difference between a home game versus an away game. I am our In-Arena Host, too, so during the first intermission during Lumberjacks games, I go from the broadcast booth, I run down to the tunnel as fast as possible, and I host the game that's going on on the ice.
On the road, I start writing the recap a little bit. Typically, I keep a couple bottles of water up in the press box, so I'm good in that sense where I don't need to worry about going and grabbing things. But, yeah, it's either starting the recap and writing goal descriptions for the period that just happened, or it's hosting and running around the arena.
Do you usually stand or sit during the broadcast?
Gennello: It depends on where we are. This weekend in Sioux City, I sat. Sioux City has one of the best, if not the best, sightlines for a visiting broadcaster, so I was able to sit and enjoy it. I sit down at home. There are a couple, I'll stand in Dubuque. It's just by the nature of where the visiting broadcaster sets up in the corner, but I typically sit.
If I have the choice, I'd rather sit down and kind of be composed a little bit. I think my biggest flaw is that I am a little too into it, and I'm talking a million miles a minute. I find that sitting down is a great way to keep myself collected and not getting too amped up.
What challenges have you found in broadcasting solo, like most teams in the USHL are set up?
Gennello: There's some dead air and some space where you're talking by yourself for three straight hours, so there's only so much that you can really say. You do the prep work, bring in the statistics, and break down what you see, but then there are just some stoppages where you're like, 'All right, I have nothing to say.' And so just finding ways to minimize that, I'll bring in a story every once in a while.
This past weekend, we were in Sioux City, and I flew. The team took a sleeper bus, and I flew separately on Thursday into Sioux Falls, which is just about an hour and a half north. Their flights got canceled to their airport, so I'm getting on the plane, and (Sioux Falls defenseman) Anthony Bongo's dad is standing, waiting to get on the plane. He's wearing a Sioux Falls hat. I'm wearing Lumberjack stuff and had a quick conversation.
Anthony scored a goal, his first career goal on Friday, and so I saw it because I was going through the out-of-town scoreboard and stuff, and I had nothing to put on for our game. So, I just brought in something random that I found pretty interesting that I think someone else would find pretty interesting. I thought that's pretty awesome, and you get to talk about the footprint of the USHL.
Is your goal call consistent, or does it vary based on the scenario?
Gennello: It's definitely based on the scenario. If a kid does something absolutely ridiculous, I'll hit it with like a 'Holy cow!' or 'Are you kidding me?' Something like that. But honestly, it's just, 'He shoots, he scores!' I get as simple as it goes.
One that sticks out is we have Cooper Pierson and Jack Galanek, who played at Shattuck together. When they score, I hit with "The Shattuck Connection is alive and well!'
What are the challenges of broadcasting away from your home rink?
Gennello: The biggest challenge in broadcasting on the road is honestly just being acclimated to the area. I'm a very routine-driven person. I love my routines. I love having similar sightlines and similar processes on game day. When you go on the road, Dubuque does their audio check after morning skate, whereas someone in another facility might not do their audio check until 6:30 for a 7 p.m. puck drop, and I'm already starting the pregame show.
With my process, I want to be set up and ready to go by 5.30. Assess what has to get done: What have I forgotten? What has changed? What's going wrong? Then, by 6, let's do an audio check. 6.30, we're opening up the pregame show, and we're set. So just being, I guess, flexible to the different experiences, routines, and facilities.
Quotes were lightly edited for clarity