Calm Voice Wanted

My father’s generation had Walter Cronkite, respectable and stoic, to talk them through the death of John F. Kennedy on live TV. In those days people respected the news media. Cronkite was a calming voice on a chaotic day.

My generation had a tragedy of its own on September 11, 2001. It played out in a much more graphic sense, live on TV as planes hit and then buildings fell. I had Peter Jennings, as did so many other Americans, as my touching voice to both encapsulate history and calm any sense of fear. It was Jennings who had taught me about death as a six year old. Pre-school let out early and I sat on my father’s lap in front of a TV as Jennings explained why a school teacher, much like my own, had passed away with others on a space shuttle called Challenger.

These are extreme examples of citizens all experiencing a traumatic event at the exact same time through eyes provided to us. While it is certainly hyperbole to compare these events to tragedy and triumphs in sports, there are threads of reactionary behavior and thought that remain the same in any example. A sociologist or psychologist knows there are a few common bonds that link any event with another.
The first is basic. When Cronkite spoke, he spoke through a relatively new box Americans had placed in their homes. Similarly, my memories of Jennings were viewed through this same box. When CBS/Elite XC has their first event in front of the nation, millions of first time viewers will see the sport of MMA through this same box: The TV.

The second link, while more subtle, should be on the minds of every MMA fan, but more importantly ever CBS and Elite XC decision maker in a position of power on this project. A calming voice. Why, you might ask, should that be an attribute to be considered of anyone being considered for a sports announcing job? After all, the most successful MMA squad consists of Mike Golberg’s hyperbole of sound bite or Joe Rogen’s passionate sales pitch of each fighter’s abilities. Imagine this scenario:
A man is sitting at home watching TV with his wife. At the same time many friends, male and female, gather at a local bar. A few blocks away an elderly couple watches TV, half awake, in their bedroom. A family somewhere, consisting of Mom, Dad, two young boys and a teenage girl, decides to watch whatever Dad wants to see. In fact, this is all happening thousands of times over in every scenario across America. They’ve all tuned in to CBS and found Elite XC.

Now imagine a fighter gets cut. Not just a small cut though, a gaping wound on the eyebrow. It’s nothing you the experienced fight watcher haven’t seen, but the blood pouring from his forehead like a faucet is starting to bother Mom. It’s bothering The older couple too. A few people in the bar, male and female, are beginning to verbally become concerned, and it’s alerting other people who didn’t care to watch in the first place. This guy is bleeding everywhere, and it’s upsetting someone’s girlfriend, sister, the old couple, and the guy who finds fighting barbaric. It’s happening across the TV, and first thing Monday, somethings gotta be done by a few of those people. They can’t understand why they’d allow this to go on. The people on TV just allowed it to happen. In fact, they seemed excited it did. They didn’t care at all. So a few of those people feel the need to do something about it, and the next thing you know CBS is under some scrutiny.

Some of this will happen no matter what anyone says, thinks, or does. There are people who would not get it after carefully investigation and education. MMA is not something everyone will condone or accept. But that number can be significantly lessened by a calming voice. That being the voice of CBS’s lead announcer, whoever that might be.

CBS Sports executives (and perhaps the entertainment ones too) have a major choice to make in conjunction with Elite XC brass. Who will be the lead voice of MMA to the masses? I hope they choose wisely. I hope they choose a man who can convey the drama and excitement, while at the same time showing the ability to explain the sport. If a man is cut on an eyebrow live on CBS and starts gushing blood during a match, it’s the woman sitting next to the everyman that the MMA fan should be concerned about. It’s the politician nearing an election or key alliance. Because even if that cut is a superficial would that has a minimal effect on his ability to fight, I can assure you the effects to MMA might not be so superficial. These are the realities that should resonate with decision makers in the CBS/Elite XC project.

There is a lot of pressure on whoever is chosen, but I’m most hopeful that whoever that person is they have the ability to use a controlled voice that grabs ears if a brutal knock out or bloody fight takes place. In the heat of the moment there will be and should be excitement, but it’s important to realize some people watching are going to need to be educated. Not about Jiu-jitsu or cage control, but about superficial wounds. Or the types of injuries that actually occur. Or that only one person has died. They need to do all that credibly and strongly while still being exciting. I do not envy them in the least.
Cronkite was often considered the most trusted man in America. MMA doesn’t need an announcer to be that accountable. He (or she) just needs to be calm, cool, and collected. No one can be prepared to the degree that might be necessary. After all, the worst case scenario isn’t a gushing superficial wound or a broken arm. It’s Sam Vasquez dying in the ring in Houston late last year. Last time I checked there was really no one to blame for Vasquez early passing, but does anyone really believe that something like that won’t be the “fault” of MMA if it airs LIVE on CBS?

My choice would be Mauro Ranallo. Mauro has the ability to be a hype man, a sound bite king for TV commercial use, and a source of knowledge to the new viewers. I’ve seen him embody not just a lead announcer or a PLAY BY PLAY MAN, but a great communicator with an aptitude for switching to an articulate concerned voice. A calming voice who can talk a fan out of panic or nerves while maintaining the integrity of the play-by-play of the match itself.

Many people see Ranallo as a court jester with bad jokes and a stupid catch phrase. If you listen to his radio show you’re right. The jokes are lame and “Yo yo yo, and away we go” isn’t cool the first time you hear it. Then listen to Mauro be interviewed by other media personalities about the business. He’s got a great mature sense of what he does and what the business is. He gets it. Listen to his work in Pride and as recently as the last Strikeforce show in San Jose. He gets it.

CBS/Showtime and Elite XC have a tough choice. I’m sure they’d like to go with a CBS name who did football once or some other B-team guy who might have a sudden fascination with MMA. Don’t do it. In late May if Kimbo Slice knocks Thompson silly I want Mauro Ranallo making the sound bite call, then reigning himself in to quell any fears that Thompson is actually dead on the canvas. Even if you don’t like Ranallo, would it save us all some trouble? Just in case.