Interesting little Bill Raftery read from the WSJ

College Sports 18 replies 1,618 views
gorocks99's avatar
gorocks99
Posts: 10,760
Jan 31, 2011 1:08pm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703555804576102461442595674.html
He does it in airports, on airplanes, in his home-office in south Florida or at any of the dozens of interchangeable chain hotel rooms he stays in during the college basketball season. The location doesn't matter. Nor does the size of the screen.

Bill Raftery, now entering his fourth decade as a color analyst on college basketball broadcasts, just needs to play one of the many DVDs he's always carrying of various games—Illinois vs. Northwestern, Arkansas vs. Tennessee—and bring out his trusty yellow pad. Then he can get going on the highly detailed scouting reports that have been at the heart of his broadcast work since he first picked up a microphone full-time at the start of the 1981-82 college basketball season.

"Most of this stuff, you'll never get it into a broadcast," Mr. Raftery said recently over a cup of coffee and hundreds of pages of handwritten research. "But you like to know it anyway."

Most color analysts—the wing men to play-by-play announcers, filling pauses with analysis, background and the occasional exclamation—have to do their homework. But broadcasters say that no one can match the research of Mr. Raftery, who at 69 has become one of the best known color analysts for college basketball in the country. Known for his regular-guy persona, "Raf," as he is known, appears on ESPN, where he has been a mainstay of the network's coverage of the Big East Conference since the 1980s, and is one of the lead color analysts for college basketball on CBS.

Produced while he watches a half-dozen tapes of each team he's assigned to cover, Mr. Raftery's one-page, double-sided reports are written in capital letters and a tiny, crowded scrawl. But his 60-odd team reports are also meticulously structured and filled with countless diagrams, notes on player tendencies, strategic predictions and statistics that could only be the work of a person whose life is set to the rhythm of balls bouncing on wood.

The reports "are like the random etchings of John Nash from 'A Beautiful Mind,' " said Ian Eagle, the CBS play-by-play announcer who has worked alongside Mr. Raftery for years. But, Mr. Eagle added, "because his personality is so strong and effervescent, his basketball preparation often gets overlooked."

Mr. Raftery has a few signature idioms—"A little kiSSSS of the glass…" when a soft bank shot drops in. Centers are always called "the big fella." But he also blurts out tidbits buried in his research in half-sentence exclamations and observations.

His report on Villanova this year recommends that opponents focus on exchanging defensive assignments, known as "switching," in the middle of a play. When the University of Connecticut failed to do so during a January broadcast, Mr. Raftery said: "No exchange. Stay at home. And [coach] Jim Calhoun is not a happy guy."

Basketball color analyst Bill Raftery carries a stack of DVDs in his briefcase wherever he goes.
It can take Mr. Raftery several hours to get through a single, 40-minute college basketball game. His fingers are constantly on the rewind and fast-forward buttons so he can make sure his diagrams match the plays he is watching.
During games Mr. Raftery keeps a notebook open to a page where he has written each player's season average for minutes played, rebounds, assists, points, three-pointers, field goal percentage, steals and blocks. Writing down the numbers himself helps him commit them to memory.

After he got cut from the Knicks in 1963, Mr. Raftery spent 16 years as a head coach, first at Fairleigh-Dickinson University and then at Seton Hall, compiling a 217-189 record before the era when even mediocre college basketball coaches became multimillionaires and some of the biggest stars in sports. In 1981 he jumped at a job doing color commentary for weekly Big East Conference games, figuring it would eventually pay more than his $50,000 salary. When it came time to prepare, he began the same routine he followed as a coach.

Over the years, the exercise evolved into the intricate system he uses today. On the far left side of the page, Mr. Raftery writes down each player's name and number. Next are the player's habits and tendencies, as few as three or as many as seven. This season's report on University of Connecticut guard Kemba Walker noted his "Walt Frazier-like moves" and his "Floater-pull-up game" (his ability to stop swiftly and land the softest of shots). Last year's report on Gonzaga's Demetri Goodson included: "Gets in Lane and finishes" and "Big Shot vs. W. Ky." (noting the player's ability to perform in the clutch).

Down the middle of the page Mr. Raftery draws a series of diagrams of offensive sets, anywhere from 10 to 24 for each team. "Backdoor." "America's Play." "Motion 1." Look at enough reports, and you'll find just about everything you see on a basketball court. It's a maze of numbers, rectangles that open on one end (symbolizing the foul lane), curving arrows and straight lines that depict ball and player movement. A third column lists the team's tendencies. Among the 22 he noted for last year's Wisconsin squad were "Love pick-and-pop to open side for [John] Leuer," meaning the team likes to set low picks and pass the ball outside for makeable shots.

On the bottom right corner, Mr. Raftery lists strategic moves that might beat this team. He wants to see University of Minnesota opponents focus on minimizing guard Blake Hoffarber's unguarded shots. Against Xavier, lay off guard Mark Lyons and lure him into shooting three-pointers. "It's just a little game I play," he said. Most of his research gets done in the morning or early afternoon. Mr. Raftery said he occasionally has "a couple of pops" at dinner, after which he isn't as sharp as his research requires.

On the morning of broadcasts, he lies on the bed in his hotel room, memorizing as much of his notes as he can. The result: natural reactions. "Virtually nothing I say is premeditated," he said. "It just sort of flows."
september63's avatar
september63
Posts: 5,789
Jan 31, 2011 1:14pm
Who doesnt have a couple of "pops" at dinner?
P
Prescott
Posts: 2,569
Jan 31, 2011 1:14pm
I doubt that Vitale puts in this kind of preparation.
SportsAndLady's avatar
SportsAndLady
Posts: 35,632
Jan 31, 2011 1:59pm
That was a good read, bill raftery is the man...a little kissssssss

He is the guy who always says the same thing right after the tip off right? Anyone know what I'm talking about? Right when a team wins the tip off he says something, i can't remember what though..
gorocks99's avatar
gorocks99
Posts: 10,760
Jan 31, 2011 2:06pm
He always says what kind of defense the team that loses the tip is in.

"They come out in ... mantoman!"
SportsAndLady's avatar
SportsAndLady
Posts: 35,632
Jan 31, 2011 2:14pm
gorocks99;659199 wrote:He always says what kind of defense the team that loses the tip is in.

"They come out in ... mantoman!"

Haha yes! that's it. I always get a good kick out of that
K
khujo
Posts: 111
Jan 31, 2011 2:29pm
They didn't even mention his best saying...."onions!"

Probably because they didn't want to try and explain it.
wildcats20's avatar
wildcats20
Posts: 27,794
Jan 31, 2011 2:40pm
They didn't even mention his best saying...."onions!"



Probably because they didn't want to try and explain it.
Yes! Onions is the best.

Trying to explain it to fab4 and all I could come up with was "ballsy"
reclegend22's avatar
reclegend22
Posts: 8,772
Jan 31, 2011 4:06pm
Really cool read. And might I add that my favorite Bill Raftery expression is "a little lingerie on the deck," after a defensive player has been embarrassed by a pretty offensive move. Or at least that's how I interpret it. Many of Raft's idioms are simply great even when seemingly random and unexplained.
swamisez's avatar
swamisez
Posts: 1,990
Jan 31, 2011 4:31pm
Send it in Jerome!

Love Rafftery, he definitely doesn't get the pub since he doesnt' work for the World Wide Leader
Writerbuckeye's avatar
Writerbuckeye
Posts: 4,745
Jan 31, 2011 4:36pm
Love the professionalism of this guy. The preparation shows in his work, and his idioms are great, too.
hoops23's avatar
hoops23
Posts: 15,696
Jan 31, 2011 5:37pm
Love him. He and Gus are by far my favorite duo.
september63's avatar
september63
Posts: 5,789
Jan 31, 2011 5:59pm
Gus Johnson is my favorite, followed by Raftery.
SportsAndLady's avatar
SportsAndLady
Posts: 35,632
Jan 31, 2011 7:12pm
swamisez;659409 wrote:Send it in Jerome!

Love Rafftery, he definitely doesn't get the pub since he doesnt' work for the World Wide Leader

I thought the article said he does work for ESPN? He does Big East games
SportsAndLady's avatar
SportsAndLady
Posts: 35,632
Jan 31, 2011 7:13pm
wrote:Known for his regular-guy persona, "Raf," as he is known, appears on ESPN, where he has been a mainstay of the network's coverage of the Big East Conference since the 1980s, and is one of the lead color analysts for college basketball on CBS.
Maybe he is not employed by ESPN but does games on ESPN? Idont know haha
wildcats20's avatar
wildcats20
Posts: 27,794
Jan 31, 2011 9:10pm
A LOT, if not most, of the play by play guys for college basketball do games for multiple stations. Especially come the tournament.
swamisez's avatar
swamisez
Posts: 1,990
Jan 31, 2011 10:54pm
It was my understanding that raff was on loan from CBS to espn during ball season much like bilas and elmore are on loan from espn to CBS for the NCAA tournament. I could be wrong about this. I wouldn't know where to look to find espn contract employees and rentals? Help.

In any event this guy has done as much as vitale has for the college game and gets far less pub. Shame.
wildcats20's avatar
wildcats20
Posts: 27,794
Jan 31, 2011 11:19pm
swamisez;660037 wrote:It was my understanding that raff was on loan from CBS to espn during ball season much like bilas and elmore are on loan from espn to CBS for the NCAA tournament. I could be wrong about this. I wouldn't know where to look to find espn contract employees and rentals? Help.

In any event this guy has done as much as vitale has for the college game and gets far less pub. Shame.

I agree 100%.

Also, I don't know about the "loan" thing or not, but I guess Gus would fall into the same category. As he does CBS and B10 games.

Either way, I wish Raff could do MORE games, not just Big East. I'd love to see him do a few Buckeye games, outside of the CBS ones.
CinciX12's avatar
CinciX12
Posts: 2,874
Feb 1, 2011 12:32am
I don't remember him calling the Xavier game against Minny. I thought that was Ian Eagle and someone else. Suppose I could be wrong though.