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10 Questions with ... Isaac Lowenkron
August 29, 2005
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NAME:Isaac LowenkronPOSITION:Reporter/AnchorSTATION:KLAC- XTRA Sports AM 570MARKET:Los AngelesCOMPANY:Clear ChannelBORN:August 26, 1979RAISED:Irvine, California
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Play-By-Play Announcer, USC Baseball (1999-2001); Reporter / Anchor, XTRA Sports AM 570 (2001-Present); Reporter, FOX Sports Radio (2004-Present); Correspondent, NBA TV (2002-2003, 2004-Present).
1) How did you get started in radio- why radio?
I was inspired by the Mount Rushmore of announcers I was fortunate to be able to listen to gowing up in Southern California -- Vin Scully, Chick Hearn, Ralph Lawler, and Bob Miller. At University High School in Irvine, I created my own sports broadcasting operation. I would do play-by-play of football, basketball, and baseball games into a camcorder. Players and their parents would give me VHS tapes and I would make copies of their games for them. If I had any brains back then, I would have charged them money instead of making copies for free.
At USC, I spent a year announcing for the student radio station. I was then hired by the USC athletic department to do Internet broadcasts of USC baseball games on usctrojans.com, which I did for three seasons. During that time, USC made two College World Series appearances as a result of my announcing ... the fact that our starting pitchers during that time were Barry Zito and Mark Prior was PURELY coincidental.
Two weeks before graduation, I got hired by what at that point was known as FOX Sports AM 1150, editing audio from 4:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., although the most important part of the job seemed to be getting everyone breakfast at Burger King. Eventually, I was sent out to "get sound" at games. I started showing up at games a couple of hours early, and found that sometimes the best news happens BEFORE the game. Whenever something happened, I would call in the news to our update anchors. Then, when Don Martin became our program director, he gave me the opportunity to report on the air on a full time basis,
2) What are you passionate about?
Professionally, there's nothing like a breaking story. It's very exciting when something big happens unexpectedly, and you have to quickly turn around and report it in an accurate and organized fashion, while using your background covering whatever sport or team is involved to place what happened into the context of what it means in the grand scheme of things. The great thing about radio is, when something happens, you don't have to wait for the 11 o'clock news, you don't have to wait for tomorrow's paper, we can tell you about it RIGHT NOW.
I'm very proud of the commitment our station has to breaking news, as well as their willingness to provide a forum to be able to examine complex events, topics, and issues in an in-depth fashion, which I think our listeners appreciate a great deal.
3) You're from the L.A. area- Irvine- and you stayed in the area through school to this gig, and now you're covering and interviewing the hometown sports heroes. What is it like to interview guys who, in some cases, you watched as a kid or as a student? How difficult is it for a hometown guy to avoid the "homer" label?
While doing the job itself, it's a total non-issue and I'm totally focused on my work. But almost every day, when I'm either arriving at a game or leaving a game, I sort of mentally pinch myself because of how lucky I feel to do what I'm doing in the area that I grew up in. That being said, I honestly don't really care whether our local teams win or lose. If there's anything I root for, it's for something interesting to happen, or an interesting storyline to arise.
4) If you hadn't gone into radio, what would you be doing today?
I have no idea, but I am almost certain it would not be pretty.
5) You're doing anchoring, covering games and teams, and filling in at Xtra- what's your ultimate goal? What do you see yourself doing in ten or twenty years?
Play-by-play is absolutely my ultimate goal. I love doing all sports, but I enjoy doing basketball on the radio the most. For every NBA game I cover at STAPLES Center, I go to the press box upstairs and practice my play-by-play into a minidisc player, exactly as if it were being broadcast live. During the season, I spend whatever spare time I have (usually weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.) preparing for these mock broadcasts. I also feel that, in general, play-by-play is the best "all-around" training for all elements of sports broadcasting, because you're ad-libbing and thinking on your feet.
6) Who are your favorite play-by-play voices and sports talk hosts and why?
Obviously, the aforementioned Vin Scully, Chick Hearn, Ralph Lawler, and Bob Miller. Not only are they brilliant announcers, they are also wonderful role models. All four place a tremendous amount of emphasis on the importance of thorough pre-game preparation. Seeing them at games over the last few years, I have also studied the incredibly classy way they all behave off the air ... the way they dress, interact with their crew, interact with fans, etc.
I learned a lot from Michael Clarke of KFI News (our sister station) in terms of using sound in my reports, as well saying as much as possible in as few words of copy as possible. I also try to watch "60 Minutes" as often as possible, to learn from the incredible way they put together and tell a story.
I really don't have a favorite host at my station, as I like them all for different reasons ... even Lee Klein. ;) I have tried to learn as much as possible from all of them, and all have given me great support and encouragement.
7) Of what are you most proud?
Professionally, I'd like to think that I have developed a reputation for being one of the hardest working people in town. I also hope people think of me as classy, intelligent, fair, and trustworthy.
I guess I'm also proud of how careful I am in dealing with controversial issues. For example, the recent Jeff Kent - Milton Bradley feud was extremely sensitive, particularly due to its racial overtones. I had to put together a comprehensive special report on the issue, and I was extremely careful in the wording of my narration and the use of sound bites to make sure it was as accurate and as fair as possible to both sides. I stayed at the station until 4:30 a.m. putting it together, but I felt that the finished product gave our listeners the opportunity to make as much of an informed judgment about the situation as possible.
8) What do you do for fun?
On the rare occasions when I have some semblance of time off, I try very hard to do as little as possible. I work out, I go bicycling, I walk my dog. I also like to cook ... women like guys who can cook (or so I've heard).
9) Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ______________
...feeling grateful.
10) What's the best advice you ever got? The worst?
I guess the best advice is that you have no control over when you're going to get an opportunity, but you have 100% control over whether you're going to be prepared for it when you get it.
The worst advice I've ever gotten is probably something I currently think is good advice. ;)
Bonus Questions
Who would win in a grudge match, Lee Klein or T.J. Simers? How much would you pay to see that?
It would be a tie, as I've found both to be quite indestructible. However, the resulting negative energy would undoubtedly make the sun disappear. :)
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