Results tagged “radio” from Birmingham Mail - Wolverhampton Wanderers Blog

One part of a sportswriters task not perhaps envisaged when you set out on the job is the need to speak publically on radio or television.

But in this day of multi-media communication we can no longer hide behind the cloak of written anonymity.

Hence the Mail's Sportswriters - Colin Tattum, Bill Howell, Chris Lepkowski, Brian Halford, Nick Pullen and myself - are regularly asked to hit the airwaves to talk about the clubs that we cover and any burning issues of the day.

Each Monday one of us goes on the Tom Ross show on Capital Gold to talk football whilst there are also regular appearances on BBC Radio WM's "The Final Word" programme with Daz Hale and Mark Regan on a Monday night.

Elsewhere national radio stations will come calling from time to time such as BBC FiveLive and Talksport.

At first it can be a daunting prospect.

Those of us more used to written communication can stumble over the spoken word like a lovestruck teenager or over-rely on a comforting catchphrase (I'm currently trying to get rid of the curse of the "You Know's").

And it does give you massive admiration for the way these radio guys operate.

Whilst we sometimes have to write copious amount of words quicker than Dwain Chambers (can I say that?!) to meet a particular deadline, more often than not you at least have a bit of time to craft a story, feature or match report.

Any glaring errors can be swiftly removed with a smack of the delete key, poor sentencing or grammar can also be amended on checking.

But for the radio and TV guys, there are no second chances, and that is quite a skill.

I think we'd all like to think we improve through practice. Hopefully the "You Know" count was down in my latest appearance on WM last night but, to change it slightly, "Who Knows?"

That apart it was another thoroughly enjoyable evening in the company of messrs Hale, Regan and BBC Midlands Today's John Bray, debating various footballing matters local and national.

You know........