Mike Kennedy

Mike Kennedy does an amazing job keeping up with play-by-play for Shocker sports. Just tonight I listened to him announce the WSU vs. KU game, and I can’t believe how he can follow not only what’s going on during the game, but also drop in statistics and past game histories like it’s nobody’s business.

That is multi-tasking.

I never realized how many notes were involved with announcing, but I found it interesting that he chooses to use his own set-up rather than using the information from the SID.

Like many of the speakers we have heard this semester, Kennedy said he did not enjoy anchoring on the news desk, but did enjoy the creative writing and shooting aspects of television.

As I listened to Kennedy on the radio tonight, I noticed as the Shockers had exciting points to their games his voice would pick up momentum. If he hadn’t mentioned anything about it in the class conversation (saying he had to be cognizant of his voice so it didn’t sound sleepy, and to push himself to sound resonant and exciting), I would never have noticed it.

I thought some of the best advice Kennedy gave was that if you are going to write, or announce, to be true to your personality. He said if you’re not funny, don’t force it. If you’re not good at ad libbing, don’t try to push it.


I also was interested to find out what he had to say regarding the differences between an analyst and someone who does play-by-play.

I really liked that he was honest with people and that he tries to be honest with himself in that regard.