Sports Are At A Standstill. Here's How To Sportscast Your Life

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to actor Hank Azaria who plays TV's over-the-top sports announcer Jim Brockmire about sportscasting your life now that there are no sports.

Audio at link: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/28/823071209/sports-are-at-a-standstill-heres-how-to-sportscast-your-life

Sports Are At A Standstill. Here's How To Sportscast Your Life

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

No sports are being played right now, leaving sports announcers with nothing to announce. Now, for many of us, that's a problem. We need the voice of a sportscaster in our heads when we toss a crumpled paper into a trash bin - yes, from downtown. Some sportscasters have jumped into that void to provide play-by-play for some of life's more mundane moments. Jim Brockmire is in a league of his own.



HANK AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) Oh, you can stick me in some kind of Italian boat because that one is gone-dola (ph).

SIMON: Brockmire, of course, is the idiosyncratic sportscaster with a loud voice and an even louder madras jacket played by Hank Azaria on "Brockmire," now in its fourth season on IFC. We thought the two of them could offer some advice. They join us now. Thanks so much for being with us, Mr. Azaria.

AZARIA: Well, thank you, Scott.

SIMON: Could you or Mr. Brockmire offer some advice on how you narrate something that's utterly uninteresting?

AZARIA: Yeah, I'm going to bring in Jim Brockmire for this, Scott Simon, because he is the expert.

SIMON: OK, sure.

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) We're all stuck inside, so why not do what I've done my entire life? Just announce your day. Call your day. Call it like a baseball game. Now, I got a few - like five or six - helpful hints on how to do that.

SIMON: Sure.

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) And I'm going to multitask here. I'm going to make my own bed right here.

SIMON: OK.

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) And as I do that, I'm going to announce it, this seemingly, you know, mundane and tedious and boring activity. And I'm going to take you through Announcing 101 as I do it. Sound good, Scott Simon?

SIMON: Absolutely, sir. Yes.

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) Now here we go. Now, tip No. 1, you've got to have a good intro, right? So, folks, we welcome you here to a rematch of yesterday's classic showdown. Once again, time for Jim Brockmire to make the bed. Now, these two have a long history together, going all the way back to, well, the President's Day sale in 2009.

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https://www.npr.org/2020/03/28/823071209/sports-are-at-a-standstill-heres-how-to-sportscast-your-life