What has been the biggest transition for you professionally, not necessarily the biggest opportunity, but the moment that required you to change, adapt, or reinvent yourself?
Working with my partner and friend, the late Stacey King, made me a better broadcaster because it forced me to adapt. Broadcasting almost works off a formula, PERSON A says these things in this space, PERSON B says other things in the other space, and you don’t really cross over too often. Stacey had such an electric personality, both off and on the air, that you had to make space for it. Adapting to him, allowing his personality to continue shining, made our broadcast unique. We didn’t care about the formula anymore. It was more about the back and forth and the chemistry and our friendship. It is why I (and many others) miss him so deeply.
You grew up in Chicago. What did this city teach you about sports, competition, and the culture of being a fan?
Watching the 1990s Bulls showed me what it looked like to be elite. To see what the greatest of their profession can do when pushed to the limit. The 2005 White Sox were an example of playoff dominance, how good can a team be when it matters the most. They went 11-1 in the playoffs that year. And then there’s my late father, a Pakistani immigrant, who grew to love baseball when he moved to Chicago and he passed his fandom to me. So when we were on the phone together when the Cubs won the 2016 World Series, I understood what fandom felt like when it comes full circle. To see this thing that mattered to him for almost 40 years of living here come to fruition gave me an incredible feeling of satisfaction on his behalf. Sports can be a unifying force and in a city like Chicago, where passions are deep and diverse, sports are often at the center of the culture.
Is there ever a moment during a Bears broadcast when the kid from Chicago inside you wants to come out, or have you trained that instinct completely out of yourself?
Institutional knowledge can be frustrating! So the answer is YES! That kid sometimes wants to come out and vent his frustrations at the field the way he did at the TV when he was younger! But the professional side of me understands why it’s important for the cooler head to prevail. Working in broadcasting has taken a large portion of my fandom away. That’s the trade-off for the incredible and fun things I have been able to experience and feel in this job.