Name: Myan Patel
Year: Sophomore (second year)
Where are you from?
Knoxville, TN
What are you studying at UGA?
Journalism (sports media certificate) and a Spanish minor
When did you join WUOG?
Fall 2016
What was your first sports experience?
Playing baseball and basketball when I was 5
Favorite teams growing up?
Growing up, I was a huge Tennessee Volunteers fan….now I’m all Dawg though. I also love the New York Yankees
Any specific favorite athletes you enjoyed watching growing up?
Peyton Manning in the NFL, Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter in the MLB
Describe the Transition from Tennessee to Georgia.
It was definitely different. It was weird not knowing more than 4-5 people here especially since it felt like everyone else already knew each other. But, after a couple months I met/made a good group of friends and have absolutely loved it here. Athens and UGA are now my home and I can’t imagine being in school anywhere else
What started your interest in sports broadcasting?
I went to a camp at my soon-to-be high school when I was in seventh grade. We did PA announcing, some mock broadcasting, and some work with a makeshift green screen. Man, I loved it. So I joined the “network” the next year and started helping where I could with our broadcasts. Fast forward to junior year and I was one of the main play-by-play guys and it was so much fun.
Describe your first play by play experience?
Seventh grade middle school football. I used to call the games by myself and I was awful. Sometimes some friends would come and do the color commentary but for a lot of games it was just me, but that was such a cool experience looking back.
How have you improved over the years?
I think that the repetition has helped me not stumble over my words as much and have a cleaner call. Now, I’m nowhere near as polished as I’d like to be, but I have improved a lot since that seventh grade start. One thing that I really want to hone in on in the future is being cleaner and crisper, but also using more strong action verbs and varying up that verbiage because not every play is the same.
Walk me through what goes into a great call.
To me, preparation is key. I like to be over prepared and have more information than I need. Then, the fun/hard part is knowing when/what information to use so that it’s not an overload. I think a great play call has enthusiasm, good word choice, and then no word choice. If it’s a fantastic play, I love seeing/hearing some crowd reactions too and watching the whole arena/stadium go berserk. So, I think sometimes the hardest part of a great call is knowing when to shut up and lay out.
Are there any broadcasters that you try to model yourself after?
Man, there’s a lot of broadcasters I look up to. Adam Amin, Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Mike Tirico, the list goes on. I think one thing that I try and learn from these individuals is that even if they have, in their mind, a bad call…it’s still a fantastic call of a game because they’re all models of great consistency.
Do you prefer sports talk or calling games?
I love sports talk but to me there’s nothing that compares with the excitement of calling a game live.
What are the challenges of sports broadcasting?
A lot of people think that they can do exactly what you’re doing and that you don’t know anything. Luckily, I haven’t really faced any personal challenges with conflicts and any internet trolling. So for me, the biggest challenges have been making sure that I’m prepared. If there’s an analyst, making sure that they’re talking enough and diving deeper into the game.
What is the most enjoyable part of sports broadcasting?
You learn/tell all these wonderful stories about coaches, athletes, mascots, and families around the country. And you get the best seat in the house for the best games. If you’re fortunate enough to do it for a career, you get paid to go sit in press boxes around the country to watch and describe sporting events. Nothing beats that.
Future plans / goals post UGA?
Post UGA I’d like to go into the sports broadcast field. Ideally, I’d like to be a play-by-play announcer.