Let’s meet the voice of Sounders FC, Kevin Calabro. After 21 years of calling Sonics action, he’s moving from the hardwood to the land of headers, from flying chickens in the barnyard to soccer, the beautiful game.
Let’s meet the voice of Sounders FC, Kevin Calabro. After 21 years of calling Sonics action, he’s moving from the hardwood to the land of headers, from flying chickens in the barnyard to soccer, the beautiful game. Good-golly, Miss Molly, we’ve got ourselves one of the most recognizable baritones (and, yes, dome) in Seattle sports history. Calabro is still more than six months away from calling his first match, but he’s already preparing his pipes for the opening night of MLS in Seattle.
The
announcement of you coming aboard and Belo becoming the broadcast
partner was made last Monday, and you gave every indication that you
planned to dive in right away.
I’ve been watching Fox
Soccer Channel for a couple years, following the MLS and the
international game. Over the weekend we were watching a replay of West
Ham versus Manchester United from last January. It was fascinating to
see this game played at such a high level on such a muddy pitch on an
obviously cold, drizzly evening. I’m starting to get hooked on it.
These guys were going after one other, just plain getting after it. It
was a very entertaining 1-1 tie. I listened to the announcers
carefully, how they broadcast the game, how they presented it. I like
challenges, and this is a challenge to learn the nuances of a new
sport, and then present it to an audience. We have an audience that’s
very knowledgeable and then an audience that’s more casual to soccer,
and hopefully I can help bring them to the sport.
In the NBA, it’s an 82-game schedule. In MLS, it’s 30
matches. As both a broadcaster and a family man with a wife and four
kids, tell me how that makes a difference.
Without
question, it will be different. Last year, our longest road trip was 15
days, and sometimes there are four games in five nights. I approach
every game as if it were special. But it’s hard when you’re playing or
coaching and broadcasting that fourth game in five nights, to find the
same kind of energy and enthusiasm that you would if there was one game
per week. It will really be interesting to see how all that comes
together. It also quickly became apparent to me that there wouldn’t be
the same wear and tear. I’m 52 years old and family considerations
figure into it because the kids are getting older and in the NBA you’re
gone a minimum of 100 days. So you’re out of their lives one-third of
the year, and you can’t make up for lost time. As you get older, you
come to that realization. My family, they’ve been very understanding.
But there was a certain amount of relief that it’s over. So, after 21
years, I am getting involved in a brand new project, in a sport where I
don’t have expertise. But the soccer community has been just
outstanding in welcoming me into the fellowship, and inviting me to
share in it and help me in the process.
As you said, one door closes and others open. Any
reflection on the coincidence of the Sonics leaving and the MLS
arriving in Seattle?
It’s fascinating the way this
unfolded. The way the Sounders have conducted business has been
exemplary. To take on the name Sounders, to have already signed a
player and to have perhaps 6-7 current Sounders players with the kind
of talent to join the new team. That speaks well of what Adrian’s
doing. It’s impressive to have an executive with the depth of
experience and the global contacts of Gary Wright. To have the kind of
ownership group we have, very diversified, all these guys in the
entertainment business, and that’s what we’re all about, entertaining.
To have a world-class facility like Qwest Field, one of the jewels in
this city, one of the great markets and venues in the world. I can’t
think of a better way to start. To think that a few months ago I didn’t
see it, and now all these doors have opened. It’s like, ‘Wow! Welcome
to the party! C’mon in!’
In watching matches, whether it be MLS or the Euro or
Premiership, do you have opinions on what style of announcing is best
for this game?
I’ve noticed with the English
announcers, they don’t clutter the broadcast with a lot of
observations. They allow the color announcer to make a quick
observation, then back off and just let the play establish itself. Let
things breathe, let the crowd be heard. Now it’s going to be different
here than in Europe, but you still want to tap-in to that energy and
allow that ambient sound come into the broadcast. The play-by-play
announcer has to let-up on the gas a little bit and realize that you’re
not doing radio play-by-play. But when they get to the 18 or final
third of the field, I’ve noticed that’s where the play-by-play guy
takes over. Call the plays, who’s making the pass, who’s going to get
the shot or who makes the defensive challenge. Slowly I’m starting to
pick-up some of the language of the game. It’s interesting, it’s a much
different language from basketball and hockey, but in my mind there are
a lot of similarities between those three sports. Between the [18-yard]
lines is when you get your analyst involved. Television has always been
an analyst’s medium because the play-by-play guy doesn’t need to
describe what the audience has already seen. However, he does need to
convey that passion and that electricity and excitement when the
critical play comes.
A lot of the bond between the fans and a broadcaster is
trust. What are the qualities which you hope come through to the
audience?
I’m going to have passion for the job. I’m
going to approach it by punching in early and leaving late. I’m going
to be at practices and involved with the team. I’m going to be learning
as much as I possibly can from other people in the league. Believe me,
I understand they have the same or more passion for the sport that I
have, and if they have more it’s simply because they have a background
in it. They’ve been playing and watching it for a number of years. I
hope to catch up quickly and earn their respect. People hopefully
respect that I have a long track record of 21 years with the Sonics. I
wouldn’t consider myself a homer. I think I’m fairly objective while
broadcasting for the hometown team. I let the inflection of my voice
reveal how I feel about the game instead of constantly waving the
pompons for the home time. You sometimes find yourself in dangerous
territory when you do that. If the play is good, great. If the play is
bad, hopefully there’s a diplomatic way to convey that as well. There’s
no easy way to convince the fans that they should have confidence in
you. You don’t get that respect immediately; that respect must be
earned.
You’ve lived in Seattle for 21 years. You’ve traveled
around the NBA and its cities. Is there anything that makes this area
distinct, and does that translate to the way they support their teams?
I
think there’s obviously a great tradition going back to the Sonics
being the first professional team in 1967, but even before that to
Husky football, which started in something like 1908. There’s always
been a great tradition of supporting athletics in the area. It’s
interesting that Seattle is so diverse in terms of nationalities but
also in the number of sports those people bring to the market. For
instance, there are 4-5 cricket matches at Marymoor Park on a given
weekend, and a lot of people play rugby and lacrosse. And there’s snow
skiing, water skiing, cycling, sailing, fishing, mountain climbing.
Where else do you find that kind of diversity? Not only do you have
good fans, but these are people who want to participate. They are not
content with sitting and watching, they want to perform themselves.
That’s what makes them so unique. Like most fans, when the teams are
winning, man, they’re on board. When teams are not doing well, the fans
are just as passionate. They may be negatively dispossessed, but still
very passionate and very vocal. They’ll let you know what they think.
You mentioned that your first professional play-by-play
assignment was with hockey, a sport had not previously called. How do
you prepare for the unknown?
You watch as many games
as you possibly can. In hockey, before the first season I did
play-by-play to the videos, then simulated broadcasts during training
camp. I did a hundred games that first year and you learn as you go
along. With soccer, because you do so few games, it may be Year 2 or
Year 3 before I really pick up those nuances to the game. That’s where
the analyst comes in. He will already have that experience. From Day 1,
fans will be able to clue-in to the analyst. Basically, I will be
directing the game from the air. I’ll have an understanding of the
rules, certainly, and the language of the game. But I won’t have a
command of the nuances. You only get that doing game after game after
game. You will have stories you store to memory banks, and so after 120
games I’ll be able to tell those stories. But there’s no way to have
those kind of anecdotes in Year 1. However, as we go along I’ll have a
better handle and be able to relate those stories, those minute
intricacies. For now, I’m working on what I can, the mechanics of the
game, rules, general understanding of the game, and how to remove my
ego from the game, to sit back and let the analyst be our guy. I’ll
follow along and hopefully ask the questions that the casual fan might
have, but one that the purist already knows the answer to. I know, the
purists are going to say, ‘Uh-oh. He’s talking about offside.’ But I’ll
tell you this, I already understand offside now, better than I understood the NBA illegal defense after 21 years.
You’ve described the similarities between basketball and soccer. What are they?
All
good players see angles, be it basketball or hockey or soccer. Soccer
players talk about slots, football players talk about going across the
grain. They’re trying to find a gap, some space to operate. I see
soccer the same way, and the players see it the same way. By drawing
the defense to them, someone else is bound to be open and the best way
to advance the ball is by passing. Very few guys in basketball can
split a defense on the dribble and I’m sure the same is true for
soccer. You see a lot of guys who are fluid on the dribble, but very
few can break down a defense alone. That’s what I mean by a game of
angles.
The fact that all league games will be on KING or KONG
means that the next wave of fans could come to know soccer and the
Sounders through you, right?
People can become passionate about those games because their broadcasters are passion about it. {Seatle P-I
columnist] Art Thiel told me once that, early on, fans loved and
followed the Sonics because if a decent guy like Bob Blackburn was
passionate about it, then by-golly, you should jump on board as well.
You’re the eyes and ears of a lot it. Obviously, we’re trying to appeal
to the casual fan, and not be too wordy, nor too elemental fan that you
bore the hardcore fan. The hardcore fan, you might as well entertain
them a little bit. They don’t need me, the play-by-play guy. But the
color guy can provide knowledge to the hardcore fan. Our crowd is going
to be consisting of a lot of folks who haven’t sat down to watch a
match, and get them to stay with it for 90 minutes.
In soccer, sometimes the spectacle–the big picture of
all that’s happening in the stadium–is the show. Any ideas of how to
best capture all that’s going on?
I watched the MLS
All-Star game on ESPN, and there were any number of crowd shots. You
don’t want to miss play, obviously, but as you say, the crowd is part
of the spectacle of the game. They are loud, they are painting their
faces, they’re wearing the colors, and it becomes a huge social event.
There are so few of these home games, the crowds are really going to
come out and really have a good time, and you want to convey that, not
necessarily with words, but pictures. We’ll have an experienced
production crew that have done soccer before, with a pretty good
understanding of what to show and at the appropriate time. It’s all
part of the presentation. Letting in breathe. It doesn’t need to be
wordy. Let’s hear the crowd, the chant, the cowbell or whatever. It’s
all part of a good broadcast.
