May 15, 2020 • 11 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Commencement Speeches for the Class of twenty is a production
of I Heart Radio. Class of Parents, Faculty, Rising graduates,
Welcome to commencement. You made it. This year is a
(00:22):
little different, a difficult time to graduate because the traditional
graduation day has been put on hold. So we're bringing
it to you wherever you are because this is still
your day, your moment, and now put your hands together.
It's time to be inspired. This year's commencement speaker the
one and only Chris Brussar. Hi. I'm Chris Bruce, a
(00:54):
sports broadcaster at Fox Sports one, the television network, and
f OX Sports Radio, and I want to congratulate all
of you graduates out there on a job well done.
It's very unfortunate that your graduation ceremonies have been canceled
or postponed, but that does not diminish your achievement and
(01:18):
what you've accomplished in any way, shape or form. You
are to be honored because you've done a terrific job
over the last four or five six years, however long
it may have taken you to graduate. The key is
that you have graduated. You now have the credentials that
you've been seeking, and you're now about to step into
a new world with new possibilities. I was in your
(01:42):
place thirty years ago. Uh graduated from Oberlin College in
nineteen ninety. I hate to date myself like that, but
that is the reality. And in these next few moments,
I want to share with you some of the things
that I've learned throughout my career that I can help
you become the person you want to become in whatever
(02:05):
field of endeavor you so choose. The first thing is
that you must believe in yourself. It's natural to be fearful,
it's natural to have questions, it's natural to have doubts,
but you've also got to have an inner belief in
yourself that you can achieve great things, a belief in
yourself that's so strong that you're willing to take some risk.
(02:28):
When I first began in the sports writing business, I
was a part time writer at the Cleveland Plane Dealer,
And after three and a half years at the plane Dealer,
I still was part time and a full time opening
came up and I applied for it. It was to
back up the Cleveland Browns, the Cleveland Indians, and the
(02:49):
Cleveland Cavaliers, and I was just a high school sportswriter,
and I spoke with the sports editor, sent some of
my clips in, and I didn't get the job. They
left me as a part time high school reporter. Now
I had enough confidence in myself to leave the Plane
Dealer because of that and go to another paper, a
(03:10):
smaller paper that was nearby called the Acron Beacon Journal.
And the Acron Beacon Journal gave me the opportunity to
cover professional sports, and they moved me on to the
Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat. And it was
my belief in myself that enabled me to make that move.
(03:32):
I didn't let the fact that the people at the
Plane Dealer didn't think I was worthy of a full
time job, didn't apparently think I was ready to cover
professional sports, thought I was where I needed to be
at the high school level. I didn't let that sit
with me. I knew that I had better things ahead
and that I was capable of much more. Even if
(03:53):
it meant going to a smaller paper and risking leaving
the biggest paper in Ohio. I was willing to do
it because I believed in myself. You've got to have
that same type of belief in your abilities. Secondly, you've
got to understand the fine line between confidence and arrogance.
(04:13):
I just talked about how you need to believe in yourself,
but you don't need to be arrogant. I'm gonna share
a story with you. When I was an intern at
the Cleveland Plane Dealer after my junior year of college,
I wrote my first story for the Plane Dealer and
the sports editor, the assistant sports editor, looked at it
(04:34):
and didn't like it. In fact, he thought it was garbage.
I hadn't had any experience really in journalism, and uh
I did the best I could, but he ripped it
to shreds to the point he was yelling at me.
The door was closed in the sports department, but everybody
out there heard what he was saying. It was embarrassing,
(04:55):
and to some degree he was saying, Hey, I'm sure
there's something you do well, but journalism isn't for everybody.
Uh So I had to remain confident in myself, but
I also had to not be arrogant. So when I
left his office, I didn't walk out of there thinking
he doesn't know what he's talking about. What, who in
(05:17):
the world does he think he is? I know what
I'm doing. That article was great. No, I took the
constructive criticism he gave me and learned from it. I
asked other writers in the newsroom, in the sports department
what I could do to improve. I listened to them.
I knew I didn't know everything, even as I remained confident,
(05:39):
and I applied what they told me and started writing
my stories based on the advice that they had given me,
And at thirty articles later that had been published in
The play Dealer, they offered me a job after I graduated.
So if I had been arrogant, thinking I'm confident it
(06:00):
and I know everything, and how dare he speak to
me that way, then I never would have learned from
my mistakes and from the advice that he gave me,
even if he gave it in a harsh manner. Thirdly,
do not have a sense of entitlement. This business doesn't
owe you anything. I don't care what school you went to.
(06:21):
I don't care what your gray point average was. I
don't care how highly you think of yourself. It doesn't
owe you anything. Your mentality has got to be that
I got to earn every single promotion or advancement that
I get I'll share with you when I first started
doing national television. Now, I've been in the New York
(06:43):
Ares right for the New York Times and done some
local TV. But ESPN was starting a new television show
called Cold Pizza. Now it's called First Take, and the
show was at seven am Eastern time, and they were
asking local writers in the New York area to come
into their studio early in the morning to do hits
(07:05):
for the show. They weren't paying a thing, and they
weren't putting you in a hotel overnight, so they would
pick you up early in the morning and then you
would do your do the show. I even went so
far as to when I was on the West Coast
covering Kobe Bryant against the San Antonio Spurs in the
Western Conference Finals two thousand four, that I would be
(07:27):
on Cold Pizza at four am Pacific time. So I'm
getting up at two thirty in the morning to go
do this show for free, no money. And I had
other writers in the New York area say, I can't
believe you're doing that. How desperate are you to be
on television? They're not paying you anything and you're going
(07:49):
on at four am. I had guys say I told him,
you better get me a hotel room, or I'm not
doing your show, you better pay me some money, or
I'm not doing it well. Now I do national television
and radio or a career, and some of these guys
aren't as far as they like to be in their careers.
(08:09):
I didn't have a sense of entitlement. I figured this
could help advance my career. I can do it, I
will do it, And now I get paid great amounts
of money to do television and radio, whereas then I
wasn't getting anything. Don't think that you're entitled to a
darn thing in this business, or in any business, for
(08:31):
that matter, whatever field of endeavor you choose to go into. Finally,
it's great to have goals and dreams and aspirations. In fact,
it's necessary. You should have a four year plan or
five year plan, a ten your plan where you want
to be at different points of your life and your career. However,
(08:54):
you cannot be so focused on where you want to
go that you are focused primarily on where you are at.
For example, you may come out of school and think
you should be at ESPN or Fox Sports right away.
Debating with Stephen a Smith or Skip Bayless. You got opinions,
(09:17):
you know the games, why can't you be up there
with them? I should be up there with them. That's
what you're saying to yourself, and it's good to have
that goal. However, the only way you're going to get
to an ESPN, to a Fox Sports, to a New
York Times, or to a Turner you know, t n
(09:37):
T Network, or or again in another field of endeavor.
The only way you're gonna get to the highest level
is to dominate and excel where you're at. So if
my goal was to get to Fox Sports, and I'm
unhappy because all I'm doing, and I'm in a local
newspaper writing about high school sports, and I think I'm
(09:59):
better than that, the best thing for me to do
is put all of my energy into dominating my high
school be into writing the best stories, breaking the most stories,
writing captivating features. Excel where I'm at, and that can
help me progress to where I want to get to.
(10:21):
So don't be so focused on your goal that you're
not putting all of your time and energy and effort
into what is in front of you at that very moment.
Dominating excel where you're at, and then you'll get to
the place you want to be. I have faith that
many of you out there will become great at what
(10:42):
you choose to do. All of you can do well
at whatever you choose to do. I think you can
learn from those points I shared and go forth and
have a great career. Again. Congratulations m. You can find
(11:09):
a coflection of incredible commencement addresses from all your favorite
speakers at the Commencement Podcast on I Heart Radio or
wherever you listen to podcasts.
Commencement Speeches for the Class of twenty is a production
of I Heart Radio. Class of Parents, Faculty, Rising graduates,
Welcome to commencement. You made it. This year is a
(00:22):
little different, a difficult time to graduate because the traditional
graduation day has been put on hold. So we're bringing
it to you wherever you are because this is still
your day, your moment, and now put your hands together.
It's time to be inspired. This year's commencement speaker the
one and only Chris Brussar. Hi. I'm Chris Bruce, a
(00:54):
sports broadcaster at Fox Sports one, the television network, and
f OX Sports Radio, and I want to congratulate all
of you graduates out there on a job well done.
It's very unfortunate that your graduation ceremonies have been canceled
or postponed, but that does not diminish your achievement and
(01:18):
what you've accomplished in any way, shape or form. You
are to be honored because you've done a terrific job
over the last four or five six years, however long
it may have taken you to graduate. The key is
that you have graduated. You now have the credentials that
you've been seeking, and you're now about to step into
a new world with new possibilities. I was in your
(01:42):
place thirty years ago. Uh graduated from Oberlin College in
nineteen ninety. I hate to date myself like that, but
that is the reality. And in these next few moments,
I want to share with you some of the things
that I've learned throughout my career that I can help
you become the person you want to become in whatever
(02:05):
field of endeavor you so choose. The first thing is
that you must believe in yourself. It's natural to be fearful,
it's natural to have questions, it's natural to have doubts,
but you've also got to have an inner belief in
yourself that you can achieve great things, a belief in
yourself that's so strong that you're willing to take some risk.
(02:28):
When I first began in the sports writing business, I
was a part time writer at the Cleveland Plane Dealer,
And after three and a half years at the plane Dealer,
I still was part time and a full time opening
came up and I applied for it. It was to
back up the Cleveland Browns, the Cleveland Indians, and the
(02:49):
Cleveland Cavaliers, and I was just a high school sportswriter,
and I spoke with the sports editor, sent some of
my clips in, and I didn't get the job. They
left me as a part time high school reporter. Now
I had enough confidence in myself to leave the Plane
Dealer because of that and go to another paper, a
(03:10):
smaller paper that was nearby called the Acron Beacon Journal.
And the Acron Beacon Journal gave me the opportunity to
cover professional sports, and they moved me on to the
Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat. And it was
my belief in myself that enabled me to make that move.
(03:32):
I didn't let the fact that the people at the
Plane Dealer didn't think I was worthy of a full
time job, didn't apparently think I was ready to cover
professional sports, thought I was where I needed to be
at the high school level. I didn't let that sit
with me. I knew that I had better things ahead
and that I was capable of much more. Even if
(03:53):
it meant going to a smaller paper and risking leaving
the biggest paper in Ohio. I was willing to do
it because I believed in myself. You've got to have
that same type of belief in your abilities. Secondly, you've
got to understand the fine line between confidence and arrogance.
(04:13):
I just talked about how you need to believe in yourself,
but you don't need to be arrogant. I'm gonna share
a story with you. When I was an intern at
the Cleveland Plane Dealer after my junior year of college,
I wrote my first story for the Plane Dealer and
the sports editor, the assistant sports editor, looked at it
(04:34):
and didn't like it. In fact, he thought it was garbage.
I hadn't had any experience really in journalism, and uh
I did the best I could, but he ripped it
to shreds to the point he was yelling at me.
The door was closed in the sports department, but everybody
out there heard what he was saying. It was embarrassing,
(04:55):
and to some degree he was saying, Hey, I'm sure
there's something you do well, but journalism isn't for everybody.
Uh So I had to remain confident in myself, but
I also had to not be arrogant. So when I
left his office, I didn't walk out of there thinking
he doesn't know what he's talking about. What, who in
(05:17):
the world does he think he is? I know what
I'm doing. That article was great. No, I took the
constructive criticism he gave me and learned from it. I
asked other writers in the newsroom, in the sports department
what I could do to improve. I listened to them.
I knew I didn't know everything, even as I remained confident,
(05:39):
and I applied what they told me and started writing
my stories based on the advice that they had given me,
And at thirty articles later that had been published in
The play Dealer, they offered me a job after I graduated.
So if I had been arrogant, thinking I'm confident it
(06:00):
and I know everything, and how dare he speak to
me that way, then I never would have learned from
my mistakes and from the advice that he gave me,
even if he gave it in a harsh manner. Thirdly,
do not have a sense of entitlement. This business doesn't
owe you anything. I don't care what school you went to.
(06:21):
I don't care what your gray point average was. I
don't care how highly you think of yourself. It doesn't
owe you anything. Your mentality has got to be that
I got to earn every single promotion or advancement that
I get I'll share with you when I first started
doing national television. Now, I've been in the New York
(06:43):
Ares right for the New York Times and done some
local TV. But ESPN was starting a new television show
called Cold Pizza. Now it's called First Take, and the
show was at seven am Eastern time, and they were
asking local writers in the New York area to come
into their studio early in the morning to do hits
(07:05):
for the show. They weren't paying a thing, and they
weren't putting you in a hotel overnight, so they would
pick you up early in the morning and then you
would do your do the show. I even went so
far as to when I was on the West Coast
covering Kobe Bryant against the San Antonio Spurs in the
Western Conference Finals two thousand four, that I would be
(07:27):
on Cold Pizza at four am Pacific time. So I'm
getting up at two thirty in the morning to go
do this show for free, no money. And I had
other writers in the New York area say, I can't
believe you're doing that. How desperate are you to be
on television? They're not paying you anything and you're going
(07:49):
on at four am. I had guys say I told him,
you better get me a hotel room, or I'm not
doing your show, you better pay me some money, or
I'm not doing it well. Now I do national television
and radio or a career, and some of these guys
aren't as far as they like to be in their careers.
(08:09):
I didn't have a sense of entitlement. I figured this
could help advance my career. I can do it, I
will do it, And now I get paid great amounts
of money to do television and radio, whereas then I
wasn't getting anything. Don't think that you're entitled to a
darn thing in this business, or in any business, for
(08:31):
that matter, whatever field of endeavor you choose to go into. Finally,
it's great to have goals and dreams and aspirations. In fact,
it's necessary. You should have a four year plan or
five year plan, a ten your plan where you want
to be at different points of your life and your career. However,
(08:54):
you cannot be so focused on where you want to
go that you are focused primarily on where you are at.
For example, you may come out of school and think
you should be at ESPN or Fox Sports right away.
Debating with Stephen a Smith or Skip Bayless. You got opinions,
(09:17):
you know the games, why can't you be up there
with them? I should be up there with them. That's
what you're saying to yourself, and it's good to have
that goal. However, the only way you're going to get
to an ESPN, to a Fox Sports, to a New
York Times, or to a Turner you know, t n
(09:37):
T Network, or or again in another field of endeavor.
The only way you're gonna get to the highest level
is to dominate and excel where you're at. So if
my goal was to get to Fox Sports, and I'm
unhappy because all I'm doing, and I'm in a local
newspaper writing about high school sports, and I think I'm
(09:59):
better than that, the best thing for me to do
is put all of my energy into dominating my high
school be into writing the best stories, breaking the most stories,
writing captivating features. Excel where I'm at, and that can
help me progress to where I want to get to.
(10:21):
So don't be so focused on your goal that you're
not putting all of your time and energy and effort
into what is in front of you at that very moment.
Dominating excel where you're at, and then you'll get to
the place you want to be. I have faith that
many of you out there will become great at what
(10:42):
you choose to do. All of you can do well
at whatever you choose to do. I think you can
learn from those points I shared and go forth and
have a great career. Again. Congratulations m. You can find
(11:09):
a coflection of incredible commencement addresses from all your favorite
speakers at the Commencement Podcast on I Heart Radio or
wherever you listen to podcasts.
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