East Meets West

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Throughout my 41 years in Sports Media, I've been fortunate to be a member of some great organizations.

The first organization I got involved in was Detroit Sports Media (formerly the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DSBA).

During the past 12 months, I've broadened my platforms to the following organizations:

*American Sportscasters Association (ASA), based out of New York City, NY.
*National Sports Media Association (NSMA) whose headquarters are in Winston Salem, NC.
*Southern California Sports Broadcasters (SCSB) which is in Los Angeles, CA.

If there was an organization in Florida, you can rest assure I'd be a part of it because these are great avenues to network and possibly get jobs, get involved in local events, attend a once a year party, awards banquet, and possibly line up guests for my shows.

I'm convinced that there is no better way to meet professionals than on LinkedIn.

On December 21, 2018, I connected with Chris Roberts, the "Voice of UCLA" who worked with the university for 23 years from 1992-2016.

During the past year as I've gotten to know Roberts, we refer to one another as "Broadcast Brothers."

He's always provided great advice for me in this industry and has been a guest on the Sports Exchange when I've needed him. I enjoy the interaction we have on the air as we promote Southern California Sports on the East Coast.

In February of 2016, Roberts became the President of SCSB.

This organization was formed in 1958.

Vin Scully is the only living original member of SCSB.

Roberts is the reason I joined SCSB.

I've always had a philosophy to meet the guests that I network with and bring on my show.

On Tuesday, January 7, 2020, the meeting with Roberts will take place as I'll be attending the 2020 SCSB Awards Luncheon at the Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank, CA.

The event begins with Cocktail's at 10:15-11:30 am. The Award Luncheon begins at 11:30 and lasts until 2 pm.

The 2020 Hall of Fame Class will have two members in Matt Stevens and Bill Macdonald.

Stevens is a radio analyst for UCLA Football while Macdonald is the television play by play commentator for the Lakers.

The Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Ralph Lawler while the President's Award goes to Vic "The Brick" Jacobs.

Jacobs works with a Radio Anchor Team that also consists of Dan Beyer, Deb Carson, Isaac Lowenkron, David Glascon, Steve DeSaegher and Ralph Irvin.

Lawler does television play by play for the Los Angeles Clippers.

In my next story, I'll announce the winners of the other awards.

When Roberts and I did a preview of the event Thursday Night on The Sports Exchange, we did go over the ballot.

A few names that caught my attention were Michigander Joe Davis, who does play by play for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Former Detroit Lions QB Rodney Peete, who played his college ball at USC, has a radio show with longtime LA Broadcaster Fred Roggin.

Former Detroit Piston Stu Lantz is a television game/studio analyst for the Lakers.

Another Lion Nate Burleson does pre-season football for the LA Rams.

Former ESPN broadcaster Charley Steiner used to announce Boxing for the world wide leader, He would eventually call games for the New York Yankees then traded the subway for the freeways in LA to work for the Dodgers.

Another interesting name is former Detroit Piston for a day Robert Horry.

Horry was traded by the Houston Rockets to Detroit, but the trade became voided when Dennis Rodman failed to pass a physical. Horry works as a television game/studio analyst for the Lakers.

Former Detroit Tigers play by play announcer Josh Lewin is calling Roberts former sports with his former employer UCLA. He does Bruins Football and Basketball.

When I attended the Olympic Games in LA in 1984, Jim Hill was an anchor. He still is and I voted for him.

This is just the sampling of who could win awards. As I mentioned before, I'll mention the winners next week.

One thing is for certain. Whether Scully is in attendance remains to be seen. There will be two segments of him congratulating the winners.

Roberts told me that I'm the first media member to be a part of SCSB. I certainly hope that continues.

There are 100 members in the SCSB and it costs $40 to join. It's a membership that is open to the public and the SCSB is involved in the community.

As I get ready to take this cross-country trip, my objectives are quite clear.

My goal is to get some great photos, line-up future guests and hand out business cards in order to give exposure the South Florida Tribune and it's Broadcasting Network.

I also have some good friends in the area.

If I get the itch, there is also the beautiful drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. I call it Meditation 101!

One interesting fact is The LA Metro Area is the No.2 Media Market in the country. It's also the Entertainment Capital of the World.

There will be some sight-seeing as well, as I can only hope that should I be able attend this event in 2021, My Wife Candy will come to Southern California for the first time.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottbm33@gmail.com and is the Owner of The South Florida Tribune and Broadcasting Network.

The Competitor In Me

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The closest sport I ever had a chance to pursue was baseball.

During my youth in Southfield, MI., I played six years of baseball, one in hockey and basketball apiece.

My father coached me in five of six years playing on the diamond.  I played catcher for three years and I enjoyed the position because it was for thinkers.

Through the years in the media some of my favorite interviews were with catchers because you can relate to those that played the same position.

If you put me in the outfield, I'd lose my focus and balls could get past me if I lost concentration. Those singles would turn into extra base hits. I could only hope that one of my fellow outfielders would back me up.

When I played third base, some of my throws were so wild you'd need a seven-foot player because my throws usually sailed therefore, the first baseman would be drawn off the bag. Then again, I was just a Little Leaguer and these wild throws are common at every level.

I always had the desire to play for Southfield Lathrup High School in Metro Detroit, but when my family uprooted us to Highland, MI, that became impossible because Lakeland High School wasn't within walking distance.

I had no other way to get to practice since there was no other family in the area to take me. Both of my parents worked full-time.

Nowadays, as I continue my journey to rebuild my passion in the Media Full-Time, I enjoy the challenge of building a Multi-Media venture from scratch.

At the weinetwork.com, Peter Wein has been a joy to work with as a co-host.

He gives me my space and I produce The Sports Exchange which airs on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 5-7 pm.

We have great chemistry on the air and we're accumulating a good foundation of guests.

My guests are the backbone to the radio side. I enjoy interacting with them especially those that I followed as a child. 

I have many good ones, but former MLB Pitcher Mark Littell is awesome!

Our audience on a nightly basis exceeds 3,000 per show when you factor the network and Facebook Live. Between the first showing, the replay the following day and archives, we're between 10-12,000. Our one year anniversary is coming up in October.

Early in my radio days, I worked with George Eichorn on the Sports Exchange in Metro Detroit. When I told Wein about name possibilities, there was only one and the Sports Exchange was it with my past history.

Thus, it's back in circulation, but in a big way.

But My real baby is the South Florida Tribune.

When I purchased the domain name two years ago, I was looking to build a media company where there would be a few writers and build a press release business.

South Florida is the area that I live in so this was a no brainer.

Back in the 1980's, I had a nice run with the Tampa Tribune when I went to college at the University of South Florida. I have a lot of great friends that I'm in touch with today.

Unfortunately that while the Tampa Tribune went out of business, I was lucky enough to land the domain name then turned it into an LLC through Sunbiz.

So here we are, The spirit of The Tampa Tampa Tribune is very much alive with my Online Publication.

Now my goal is to develop writers and allow business owners promote their business. This is an outlet that provides freedom of speech as long as it's not abused. I don't limit the Tribune to sports. It's wide-open for the most part, but I won't allow politics or religion. These two subjects are discretionary.

We have a good young baseball/music writer named Louis Addeo-Weiss, who is developing nicely. Hopefully he continues to progress and he's been told there will be more opportunities down the line.

My wife Candy does a super job behind the scenes helping me put all of this together.

This gives me an opportunity to find Media Distribution Partners to provide content to promote their organizations.

I have quite a few now, but most notably, The Jacksonville Jaguars, Florida Atlantic University Owls, University of South Florida, Lynn University are some of the ones. If you want to see the rest, go to www.southfloridatribune.com and then use the drop down Sporting News.

As I continue this journey, the excitement of this challenge is to find more Media Distribution Partners. Stay tuned for more updates as time progresses.

I want all of my followers to read Real News and be updated regularly.

Another resource is Reuters who supplies our National News and Sports.

There are plans down the road to add a You Tube Channel and South Florida Tribune Podcast.

But only when I feel the traffic reaches much higher levels.

I'm too old school to deal with Fake News and won't tolerate such garbage.

But the key to any business is to reach as many people as possible.

As I continue to build this, My goal is to maximize the exposure of the weinetwork.com and other partners that join our team.

One of the things I like about the Sports Exchange is I've been able to find young charismatic talent who have desires to use us as a stepping stone to further their careers.

Last August, I met a young guy named Xavier McKnight. He was the Sports Information Director for Savannah State University. The Miami Hurricanes won this game 77-0. But I got to know Xavier McKnight real well and he would be one of our first core pieces with The Sports Exchange.

These photos were taken with McKnight at his new favorite restaurant in Bradenton, FL.

He's received praise from former College Basketball Coach Mike Jarvis, established broadcaster and longtime colleague Mark Wilson. Most recently, Los Angeles iconic broadcaster Chris Roberts was impressed.

Xavier is one of those guys that can work in any sport and is so prepared that he's so credible on the air. At 23-years old, McKnight is a name that you'll hear plenty about as time progresses.

Another favorite is 23-year old Anthony Wood. I found him on LinkedIn early this year.

On the radio show, we call him UK. No, this doesn't stand for any university with these letters. But it's a short version for United Kingdom.

What impressed me about Wood is he's so knowledgeable about the NFL.

Once upon a time there was NFL Europe. The league has a tremendous following in the UK and much of this is attributed to the Jacksonville Jaguars playing there annually, in addition to the growing amount of games each season.

Guys like Wood are a product of such growth. He podcasts regularly and when things were slow during the summer, he had updates on Formula One Racing, Wimbledon, Sports Movies, etc...

But his tenacity in doing research excites me because those are the qualities that it takes to become good at any occupation, let alone being in the news business.

In my eyes, Wood will always be known for producing an outline then sending it to me so I can follow it on the show.

Now I require the outline from a lot of my young insiders. Wood is another guy where the sky is the limit.

When I look at McKnight and Wood, I see a lot of what I was like when I was young. I was hungry, determined and I would work 24 hours to get what I needed to get the job done. That's how we're wired mentally.

That's the Competitor in Me.

I may not have had the ability on the athletic field.

But off the field, I'm just excited as to where this journey ultimately leads me.

When you have these young studs around, it's impossible to not learn from these guys. They bring out The Fountain Of Youth!

Back in the day when there was terrestrial radio and network television, only the fortunate could get involved. It was a privilege to be in the industry.

Now with tons of channels to watch on television, internet-satellite radio taking over, this is a different overwhelming animal more tenacious that a grizzly bear. It will eat you up alive if you're not on top of things, therefore you have to make every second count.

I'm learning how to promote in Social Media like I've never done before and this digital experience with internet radio, podcasts is one of those situations where all of you just have to is relationships with honest intentions.

It's necessary to make Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc... your best friend because nowadays you can't exist without it.

Years ago, the Associated Press, United Press International (UPI) and the Sports Ticker was your best friend. Not anymore.

But the key is to make it a win-win situation.

Take care of  your Media Distribution Partners by making as many appearances as possible because they're the ones who treat you with the respect to keep things going. Whatever people decide to write for you to gain exposure is just icing on the cake.

The industrious individuals realize that the more your name is out there the more opportunities you have in expanding your business to create the endless possibilities available to you which could lead to financial gain.

Word Of Mouth is everything!

This is an era where Google Rules!

It doesn't take much to find individuals these days by browsing.

Exposure is the key!

The financial part will eventually work itself out.

As I conclude this story, I'll say that regardless of how much talent you have, there is nothing more greater in life then having a tenacious work ethic.

I learned this at a young age and will take it with me until the day I die.

You don't last in the Media 40 years by accident.

At 56-years old, I still have the fire and 26 operations in addition to a myriad of other health issues, this won't slow me down.

That's what brings out The Competitor In Me.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com. He is the Founder and CEO of The South Florida Tribune.

Just Like Old Times

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
WASHINGTOWN, TOWNSHIP, MI

As much as I've always enjoyed watching the movie "Back To The Future," on Tuesday, July 30, 2019, it was neat revisiting an old, but new show.

This seemed like a movie "Back To The Past."

This radio show took place at the Old Stone Bar And Grill, in Washington Township, a suburb of Metro Detroit.

There was an old face in the past who shared center stage with me and his name is George Eichorn.

Back in the early 1980's, Eichorn and I used to have a Radio Talk Show called The Sports Exchange.

We did a show in Garden City, MI at WCAR AM that aired from 7-9 PM Sunday Nights. Back then, there were no primetime NFL Football Games.

We moved to Mount Clemens, MI., and shifted to WBRB AM.

The Sports Exchange became a six hour show on Saturday Night from 6-12 Midnight.

We did segments on trainers, sports movies and much, much more.

In those days, we relied on The Associated Press and United Press International, plus the sports ticker which gave us score updates.

Both shows were a blast in their own ways as we took call ins and did live and pre-recorded interviews.

We enjoyed the Magazine Style Format which I've implemented here.

We spent 12 hours in the studio preparing the show then doing it.

We had lots of carry out meals and ordered pizza frequently for the Saturday broadcast.

As we move the clock forward, I took the lessons I learned back then and last year worked out a deal with Peter Wein of the weinetwork.com in September of 2019.

I'm the Founder and CEO of The South Florida Tribune.

We created the relationship with the intent to grow both brands.

We've done just that. Our show hits between 10-12,000 listeners.

The South Florida Tribune has been growing steadily.

Wein has been a tremendous partner.

I write the show and I enjoy the challenge of booking guests and then we have fun entertaining our followers.

It's great to have young talent and the veteran athletes, media members, etc... work together and bring fresh ideas to the program.

Over the years, I've been accustomed to terrestrial radio.

I have to admit that Wein's network on internet radio appears to be the new trend. Plus, it's not regulated by The Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

There is a lot more promoting on Social Media and many more news sources to get your information.

For this broadcast, Wein produced the broadcast from our Delray Beach, FL., Studio. The show was also seen on Facebook Live.

For Eichorn and I, it was like old times telling stories of our early years working together.

Eichorn is a frequent guest on this show and serves as the Sports Editor of The South Florida Tribune.

For this show, the guest line-up consisted of Rick Curti, Anthony Wood, Xavier McKnight and Chris Roberts.

When Eichorn and I were working together, Wood and McKnight weren't alive. These guys are 23-years old. These youngsters have promising careers ahead of them.

Roberts at 70-years old, is an iconic broadcaster in Los Angeles calling UCLA Basketball, Football and Baseball.

He is currently the President of The Southern California Sports Broadcasters, an organization for which I'm a part of.

Chris has become a new mentor for me and a great friend that I met this year on Linkedin.

He's always there when I need advice or a guest.

You talk about a great addition to my life, Roberts is it! I'm looking forward to eventually meeting Roberts in person in LA, and am proud to be the first East Coast Member of his organization.

Eichorn is Executive Director of Detroit Sports Media. I belong to this group as well. It was great introducing these two guys.

The comradery on this show amongst us was excellent as you had three guys that have over 130 years in Sports Media together.

We all admitted that perhaps this industry has passed us by to some extent considering how much it's influenced by Social Media and Technology.

Yet, each of us kind of laughed about it.

When it was all said and done, and the show was over, the feedback I received from friends and family was incredible!

But this night was about reminiscing about old memories then creating new ones.

This remote will be the beginning of more and Candy Ebling did an outstanding job with the technical side at the restaurant.

All the people that participated were MVP's.

I'm just thankful that Eichorn and I had a chance to relive this experience one more time, 40 years later.

But this was one night that will go down as completely unforgettable!

We learned a lot and created lots of new memories.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com.