Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
This is Later with Lee Matthews,The Lee Matthews Podcast more what You Hear
Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive. He'sa versatle five. Sport broadcaster Kenny Albert
Marx his thirtieth season with Fox Sportsthis year, and he's been calling the
NFL games on Fox since nineteen ninetyfour, currently the only broadcaster handling play
(00:24):
by play for all four major USsports, the NFL, NBA, MLB,
and National Hockey League. Kenny Alberthas written about his experiences in a
new book called A Mic for AllSeasons. My three decades announcing for the
NFL, NHL, NBA, mMLB and Olympics, and I didn't have
a choice. I fell in lovewith this business at a very early age,
(00:48):
Kenny. But you were born intoit, well, Lee, I
certainly was, and also fell inlove with it as at a young age.
Thanks for having me on this show. Did grow up with my father
and uncles as played by play broadcasters, so it was all that I really
knew right from the start. Myparents gave me a tape recorder for my
(01:10):
birthday when I was five years old, and I set up my bedroom like
a TV at a radio studio withthe desk and then the bed in the
middle TV on the other side,and would call games into the tape recorder
and it was a lot of fun. Learned a lot via osmosis from all
of them. I would listen tojust about any sporting event I could find
on the radio, and started tobring the tape recorder to sporting events when
(01:34):
I was old enough for that.A huge break in high school. A
local cable station came to my schoolto fill the girls basketball game, and
all they had was a small productionvan and two cameras. That was it,
and I volud here to announce thegame. They clipped the microphone on
my shirt and for the next twoand a half years they sent me all
around Long Island to call various gamesand any sport you can imagine. So
(01:57):
that was a great head start andagain really really all that I ever wanted
to do. Kenny Alberts Mike forall seasons, I've always admired play by
play. The only play by playI ever really got good at was football.
I imagine I could do baseball becauseit's a lot slower paced, but
I've always been in awe of basketballand hockey. How do you do it?
(02:23):
You know, I get the questionoften which is the hardest sport to
call? And most people think hockeywould be the answer. To me,
it's actually the easiest, maybe becauseI've done it for the longest period of
time for thirty three years now professionally, especially on the radio, and I
bounced back and forth with hockey onradio and television. But on the radio
(02:43):
it's like riding a bike. It'sjust a continuous call the fucks and action
for sixty minutes. There are stoppages, of course, but basketball is pretty
similar, balls and action for fortyeight minutes. It's a little slower paced.
There are more whistles, more stoppagesfor fouls, and the ball out
of back. Football, to me, is the most riderick. It's one
play and then it's twenty or twentyfive seconds. It's another play and then
(03:06):
it's twenty or twenty five seconds.Baseball has always been the most challenging of
the fourth with all the downtime betweenpitches between batters, although it's the pace
is picked up over the last yearwith the pitch clock, which I know
all broadcasters are pretty happy with,but to me, the most challenging I've
done some other sports through the years. You know, Boshton, there's no
(03:27):
ball of puck, and you wantto make sure you get some of your
good information, your good nuggets inearly, because it could end at any
time. I've done a little bitof track and field and volleyball, and
those were sports that I really hadto learn. Not a shame to admit
that. I picked up the booksTrack and Field for Dummies, Volleyball for
Dummies, watched a lot of priortapes, and spoke to experts in those
(03:50):
various sports. But you know,as far as the four that we talked
about, you know, people mightthink I'm crazy, but to me,
hockey is the easiest, despite thethe line changes on the fly and the
European names. I've done several WinterOlympics, men's and women's ice hockey,
and on the on the men's sidefor the most part, in four of
(04:13):
those six Olympics, it's been mostlyat HL players, but in the other
two a lot of unfamiliar names.Uh. Learning the names and the teams
on the women's side as well,so that that could be pretty challenging.
But once you get into the flowat the game, uh, like I
said, it's pretty much a continuouscall that's consistent with our local minor league
hockey play by play guy. Iasked him the same question. His answer
(04:34):
was, I don't I don't eventhink. I just describe what I'm looking
at and it just and it justkeeps going. Yeah, and then you
have the you know, the legendarystory for Bob Costas. You know,
I've heard him tell him during interviewsand in books. Early in his career,
he was assigned to call a hockeygame, a minor league hockey game,
(04:55):
and the only problem was that theyhad given him rosters, and all
of a sudden, the team's comeout for warm ups and most of the
players are wearing different numbers. SoI'm sure that was a bit of a
challenge for him. We're talking toKenny Albert. He's the legendary play by
play for Fox Sports. He's writtena book on Mike for All Seasons my
decade, announcing the NFL, NHL, NBA, and LB and the Olympics.
(05:17):
You also, I mean, it'smore than a memoir too. You
have some stories to tell about someof the pro athletes you've rubbed noses with,
right, you know, it's acompilation of early life, and then
stories about calling each of the individuals, sports, stories about the Olympics,
travel tales, anecdotes about the variousanalysts I've worked with, and also,
(05:42):
like you said, stories about athletesthat I've had the pleasure of interviewing,
either on the air or off theair, just for background. And when
we go into call NFL games everyweekend as a crew, we do have
the opportunity to sit down and chatwith players and coach. So I write
about Brett farre who was one ofthe most generous with his time. Met
(06:05):
with him on numerous occasions calling thePackers games and then the Vikings later in
his career, and he was therefor as long as you needed, forty
five minutes, and he would betelling stories about hunting and fishing in his
family. It wasn't even all aboutfootball, but he was certainly a character.
We always enjoyed meeting with Brett,Peyton Manning, who has a photographic
(06:29):
memory. He would talk about gamesthat happened five, ten, fifteen years
ago with precise recall. And thenin hockey, Win Gretzky, who's become
a colleague. He's in the studiowith TNT, but worked a game with
us a couple of years ago andhad the chance to interview him a few
times earlier in my career. Wayneand will Clyde Fraser were kind enough to
(06:50):
write the forwards for my books.So hopefully, hopefully the listeners who've had
the opportunity to read it, orwe'll have the opportunity in the future,
enjoy it. There are some storiesin there that I've told through the years
at various events and sportscasting camps,and during the pandemic had a lot of
(07:10):
time in my hands and started toput pen to paper and very excited when
the book came out a couple ofmonths ago. Kenny Albert is with Us.
Mike for All Seasons is his book. His dad was the legendary Marv
Albert. What's the number one thingyou learned from him? Definitely the preparation.
I would sit at home or inhotels with him on trips and just
(07:33):
watch how much time he put infor each and every game that he worked,
and I kind of learned by osmosisjust by watching, And that's the
number one thing that I tell youngplay by play broadcasters. I have a
checklist that I go through prior toeach and every game that I work,
and it involves watching prior to gamesand doing a lot of reading and preparing
(07:56):
charts and going through notes and statistics. But by far the number one thing
that I learned was the preparation aspect. Read all about his adventures and in
the business of MIC for all seasonsby three decades. Announcing the NFL,
NHL, NBA, MLB and Olympics. Kenny Alberts, Fox Sports, thanks
for joining us in Happy Holidays.Thanks We rare appreciated your tip. Thanks
(08:18):
for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember
to listen to The Drive Live weekdayafternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia presentation.
This is Later with Lee Matthews,The Lee Matthews Podcast more what You Hear
Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive. He'sa versatle five. Sport broadcaster Kenny Albert
Marx his thirtieth season with Fox Sportsthis year, and he's been calling the
NFL games on Fox since nineteen ninetyfour, currently the only broadcaster handling play
(00:24):
by play for all four major USsports, the NFL, NBA, MLB,
and National Hockey League. Kenny Alberthas written about his experiences in a
new book called A Mic for AllSeasons. My three decades announcing for the
NFL, NHL, NBA, mMLB and Olympics, and I didn't have
a choice. I fell in lovewith this business at a very early age,
(00:48):
Kenny. But you were born intoit, well, Lee, I
certainly was, and also fell inlove with it as at a young age.
Thanks for having me on this show. Did grow up with my father
and uncles as played by play broadcasters, so it was all that I really
knew right from the start. Myparents gave me a tape recorder for my
(01:10):
birthday when I was five years old, and I set up my bedroom like
a TV at a radio studio withthe desk and then the bed in the
middle TV on the other side,and would call games into the tape recorder
and it was a lot of fun. Learned a lot via osmosis from all
of them. I would listen tojust about any sporting event I could find
on the radio, and started tobring the tape recorder to sporting events when
(01:34):
I was old enough for that.A huge break in high school. A
local cable station came to my schoolto fill the girls basketball game, and
all they had was a small productionvan and two cameras. That was it,
and I volud here to announce thegame. They clipped the microphone on
my shirt and for the next twoand a half years they sent me all
around Long Island to call various gamesand any sport you can imagine. So
(01:57):
that was a great head start andagain really really all that I ever wanted
to do. Kenny Alberts Mike forall seasons, I've always admired play by
play. The only play by playI ever really got good at was football.
I imagine I could do baseball becauseit's a lot slower paced, but
I've always been in awe of basketballand hockey. How do you do it?
(02:23):
You know, I get the questionoften which is the hardest sport to
call? And most people think hockeywould be the answer. To me,
it's actually the easiest, maybe becauseI've done it for the longest period of
time for thirty three years now professionally, especially on the radio, and I
bounced back and forth with hockey onradio and television. But on the radio
(02:43):
it's like riding a bike. It'sjust a continuous call the fucks and action
for sixty minutes. There are stoppages, of course, but basketball is pretty
similar, balls and action for fortyeight minutes. It's a little slower paced.
There are more whistles, more stoppagesfor fouls, and the ball out
of back. Football, to me, is the most riderick. It's one
play and then it's twenty or twentyfive seconds. It's another play and then
(03:06):
it's twenty or twenty five seconds.Baseball has always been the most challenging of
the fourth with all the downtime betweenpitches between batters, although it's the pace
is picked up over the last yearwith the pitch clock, which I know
all broadcasters are pretty happy with,but to me, the most challenging I've
done some other sports through the years. You know, Boshton, there's no
(03:27):
ball of puck, and you wantto make sure you get some of your
good information, your good nuggets inearly, because it could end at any
time. I've done a little bitof track and field and volleyball, and
those were sports that I really hadto learn. Not a shame to admit
that. I picked up the booksTrack and Field for Dummies, Volleyball for
Dummies, watched a lot of priortapes, and spoke to experts in those
(03:50):
various sports. But you know,as far as the four that we talked
about, you know, people mightthink I'm crazy, but to me,
hockey is the easiest, despite thethe line changes on the fly and the
European names. I've done several WinterOlympics, men's and women's ice hockey,
and on the on the men's sidefor the most part, in four of
(04:13):
those six Olympics, it's been mostlyat HL players, but in the other
two a lot of unfamiliar names.Uh. Learning the names and the teams
on the women's side as well,so that that could be pretty challenging.
But once you get into the flowat the game, uh, like I
said, it's pretty much a continuouscall that's consistent with our local minor league
hockey play by play guy. Iasked him the same question. His answer
(04:34):
was, I don't I don't eventhink. I just describe what I'm looking
at and it just and it justkeeps going. Yeah, and then you
have the you know, the legendarystory for Bob Costas. You know,
I've heard him tell him during interviewsand in books. Early in his career,
he was assigned to call a hockeygame, a minor league hockey game,
(04:55):
and the only problem was that theyhad given him rosters, and all
of a sudden, the team's comeout for warm ups and most of the
players are wearing different numbers. SoI'm sure that was a bit of a
challenge for him. We're talking toKenny Albert. He's the legendary play by
play for Fox Sports. He's writtena book on Mike for All Seasons my
decade, announcing the NFL, NHL, NBA, and LB and the Olympics.
(05:17):
You also, I mean, it'smore than a memoir too. You
have some stories to tell about someof the pro athletes you've rubbed noses with,
right, you know, it's acompilation of early life, and then
stories about calling each of the individuals, sports, stories about the Olympics,
travel tales, anecdotes about the variousanalysts I've worked with, and also,
(05:42):
like you said, stories about athletesthat I've had the pleasure of interviewing,
either on the air or off theair, just for background. And when
we go into call NFL games everyweekend as a crew, we do have
the opportunity to sit down and chatwith players and coach. So I write
about Brett farre who was one ofthe most generous with his time. Met
(06:05):
with him on numerous occasions calling thePackers games and then the Vikings later in
his career, and he was therefor as long as you needed, forty
five minutes, and he would betelling stories about hunting and fishing in his
family. It wasn't even all aboutfootball, but he was certainly a character.
We always enjoyed meeting with Brett,Peyton Manning, who has a photographic
(06:29):
memory. He would talk about gamesthat happened five, ten, fifteen years
ago with precise recall. And thenin hockey, Win Gretzky, who's become
a colleague. He's in the studiowith TNT, but worked a game with
us a couple of years ago andhad the chance to interview him a few
times earlier in my career. Wayneand will Clyde Fraser were kind enough to
(06:50):
write the forwards for my books.So hopefully, hopefully the listeners who've had
the opportunity to read it, orwe'll have the opportunity in the future,
enjoy it. There are some storiesin there that I've told through the years
at various events and sportscasting camps,and during the pandemic had a lot of
(07:10):
time in my hands and started toput pen to paper and very excited when
the book came out a couple ofmonths ago. Kenny Albert is with Us.
Mike for All Seasons is his book. His dad was the legendary Marv
Albert. What's the number one thingyou learned from him? Definitely the preparation.
I would sit at home or inhotels with him on trips and just
(07:33):
watch how much time he put infor each and every game that he worked,
and I kind of learned by osmosisjust by watching, And that's the
number one thing that I tell youngplay by play broadcasters. I have a
checklist that I go through prior toeach and every game that I work,
and it involves watching prior to gamesand doing a lot of reading and preparing
(07:56):
charts and going through notes and statistics. But by far the number one thing
that I learned was the preparation aspect. Read all about his adventures and in
the business of MIC for all seasonsby three decades. Announcing the NFL,
NHL, NBA, MLB and Olympics. Kenny Alberts, Fox Sports, thanks
for joining us in Happy Holidays.Thanks We rare appreciated your tip. Thanks
(08:18):
for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember
to listen to The Drive Live weekdayafternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia presentation.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!