Steve Levy

“When you are coming up, there is nothing beneath you,” Steve Levy says “You want to put yourself head and shoulders above the next person? This is it: smile on your face, and the answer is yes.”  

Steve Levy says starting out, your attitude is what gets you remembered; constantly make yourself useful. 

Steve also brings thoughtfulness to his broadcasting and to his Game Plan interview. When asked what to avoid on-air, he mentions he never uses war references in reporting (“Throwing a bomb”). He mentions that when covering the Little League World Series he will never name the young athletes that make mistakes. These are small gestures rooted in understanding the impact the media industry has, and they say a lot about the character that Steve Levy is. 

In the rest of the interview, Steve offers his advice on preparing audition tapes, how integral attitude is to success, and dealing with on-air bloopers … Yes, he mentions his bulging disk blooper. 

Time Stamps

6:07 - College, how Steve got started in sports media. 

9:50 - What are some things to avoid in broadcast?

12:21 - Tips on audition tapes

17:04 - Tips for high schoolers

19:35 - Tips for internships

30:56 - Do you still get nervous before games?

33:22 - Do you have advice for preparation?

43:26 - How do you recover from mistakes so smoothly?

47:10 - What is it like covering long Hockey games? (Steve has broadcast the 5 longest Stanley Cup games in television history)

49:20 - Should entry level candidates be selective toward picking the location of your first job? 

53:08 - How do you go about structuring your play-by-play broadcast open?

56:07 - Advice with job interview and meeting a prospective boss

59:08 - Final tip: your attitude.

1:02:15 - the bulging disc story