Trisha and I had the opportunity to meet with journalist Mike Pacheco last week. As an avid sports fan myself, and with all of the recent energy around Charlotte professional sports teams, we thought it would be fun for us to conduct an interview, and for you to hear from someone that is (1) focused on sports and (2) in broadcast.
Mike is a TV/radio play-by-play announcer, talk show host, update anchor, studio host, reporter, executive producer, producer, consultant, event emcee and occasional TV sports anchor. Among the many projects underway, he is working with the Carolina Panthers as a member of the post-game show radio and web stream broadcasts. Recently, he began working as a sports producer for NBC News Channel. He is also involved with the Charlotte Knights Radio Broadcast and Winthrop University. And, he is writing a blog called “The Pacheco Papers.”
Q: What is your favorite role and why?
Probably for me doing radio play-by-play is what I enjoy the most because you have complete control of the canvas. Radio is theater of the mind and so most of the people that are listening won’t be at the ballpark. So, you’re trying to paint the picture, invite the people in so they feel that they are sitting next to you watching a ballgame so it’s really very descriptive. It’s probably the modern version of writing from 300-400 years ago. It’s storytelling and that’s the difference between radio and television play-by-play because television is more of an analyst’s and director’s medium.
Q: What does your preparation look like for a game?
For baseball, it’s a bit different because it’s every day. I try to read our local paper. I’m old fashioned when it comes to reading the actual newspaper and check out The Charlotte Observer every day. I was a paper boy and it’s ingrained in me. I’m big on trying to keep up on the usual suspects – MLB.com, ESPN and Sports Illustrated. With minor league baseball it’s a little bit different because a lot of the guys we deal with aren’t household names so I’ll do some more digging. MLB has MLBpressbox.com, so I check out other teams’ media guides. Sometimes you have to dig a bit more than other sports. I’ll look at other team’s parent clubs because a lot of guys’ bios are in there. So in general, it’s an hour or two of reading – looking at players I’m not as familiar with and even doing a google search. Or, if they are one or two years out of college, information will still be on their college site. Of course, social media is a big resource as well. And, talking to coaches and players – the old school way – is still important because we’re trying to get nuggets and tidbits, not just basic facts.
Q: You had some media relations and marketing roles in the past and since we’re in PR & marketing, we’re interested in your thoughts and experience in those areas. And, when you hear the team “public relations” – what does it mean to you?
Ironically, when I was in college, I was a political science major and since I was the newspaper boy and we always had the television on at home, I was up on current events, sports and politics. In college, I thought it would be a dream job to be a press secretary for a senator or congressman. So, I’ve always been interested in that relationship – working with the media and trying to craft a story whether you’re in marketing or PR. You’re trying to create a brand and disseminate that information…in a way that is fun and entertaining. My career path has been very different but I don’t think I’d be where I am now without everything I’ve done. My parents always taught me to have a back-up plan so I’ve always tried to learn as much as I can, and do as many different things as I can – especially because broadcast is so volatile. To me, both sides need each other (media and PR professionals).
Q: What is the best interview you ever conducted? Who is the most famous person you’ve ever interviewed?
One theme that has developed this year at BB&T ballpark is that you never know who is going to show up. One of our executives came up to me and said Bill Parcells is going to be here tomorrow. So I said let’s see if we can interview him. Sure enough, next day, he’s in town. I was doing an on-field pre-game show with one of our players and I told the player that Bill was going to be there. We did our interview and then he yells over to Bill and says “Bill, I want to talk football with you.” So, Bill calls him over and they talk for a bit. Then, near the end of the game, he sat with me for an inning and we mostly talked about baseball – he’s a huge baseball fan actually – as well as what he’s doing these days. I’ve always thought he was fascinating – a great communicator and coach. Actually, he is indirectly responsible for my wife and me getting together because when she and I met at a bar years ago, he was on television at the bar, and we bonded over our interest in Bill! When I told him that, he got a big smile on his face.
Q: What is the funniest moment or “out-take” that ever happened to you?
This was back when I was working in Kannapolis and with a Christian station – we had to keep it clean; I didn’t broadcast on Sundays, no beer commercials, etc. We had a catcher that in his first game set the league record for pass balls. So, it’s later in the year and we’re at home and right behind home plate I had a huge crowd mike so we could hear the pop of the glove and crack of the bat. It’s a close game, we’re tied. They have a guy on third and it was the seventh or eighth inning and he’s running back and screams an expletive very loudly. I thought I was maybe going to get a phone call. Fortunately, I didn’t.