Emily Greene
Editor-in-Chief
He has a voice like Mel Allen for the Yankees, Al Michaels from Monday Night Football and covers the NCAA Basketball Tournament like Brent Musburger. Although he may not quite live up to these sports announcer legends, this kid is well on his way. He resides in New Canaan, and his name is Brendon Baker.
Brendon, a freshman, has been acting like a sports journalist by filming his own web show called “Brendon Baker on Shovio” which, according to Brendon, is a unique perspective on sports’ top stories, and a place for sports fans to unite.
According to Brendon, Shovio is a website where hosts have live video shows. The viewers post their opinions in an interactive chat room and call into the show using their webcams and their microphones.
Starting this September his show will run Saturday afternoons from 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. until June, while during the summer months he runs his show Monday and Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.
Being a year round project, Brendon’s show covers almost every sport. “[I do] whatever is in season. I do baseball, NBA, College Basketball, College football, NFL, and some Golf,” he said.
Brendon started his web show last year, and it has been growing ever since. “People always told me I had a great memory of sports events, trivia and a good voice. I decided to pursue sports broadcasting last winter during 8th grade. I did some research and found shovio.com when it was in its developing stages,” he said. “Shovio now has fourteen shows, most nights there are shows from five in the afternoon until midnight.”
“To be honest, I was the one that pushed myself to give broadcasting a try. Now I’m hooked,” Brendon said. Although he is self-motivated, he does get some inspiration from the professionals. “The people I follow in the industry are Evan Roberts, Mike Francesa, Michael Kay, and Ian Eagle.”
As far as prep work, Brendon does very little; he does an intro and takes phone calls, everything is improvised. “As far as prep work, I figure out what my topics are but I don’t write out a script or anything,” he said. “[For example,] I know I will open with the Yankees, but what I say about them comes to me as I am doing the show.”
In his free time, Brendon can’t get enough of sports. “My favorite sport to play would have to be golf. It is relaxing and allows me to spend time with friends and family.
When asked if sports journalism is something he would consider doing in the future, Brendon said, “Most definitely, my dream is to work for WFAN sports radio 66 in New York City.”
In the meantime? “I hope to get involved in coverage of Rams’ sporting events,” Brendon said.
