Talking the Talk With Gus Johnson

Were it not for a small bit of friendly advice, the most excitable voice in college basketball might right now be the most excitable voice among masters candidates.

College basketball fans -- not to mention professors with sensitive ear drums -- have Scott Perry to thank for that.

"You know, [I] was getting ready to quit and go into coaching at the University of Detroit and go back to school, get my masters and coach basketball," says Gus Johnson, now one of college basketball's most recognizable voices and a March Madness mainstay. "Thank God Scott Perry [then director of player personnel with the Detroit Pistons] talked me out of it."

Gus Johnson, the announcer your cup of coffee would tune into if it felt a little sluggish in the morning, sitting quietly in a classroom? Maybe the day Tony Stewart teaches driver's ed.

In the time since, Johnson has become one of the most identifiable play-by-play broadcasters. He's called the NFL, boxing, MMA, hockey, baseball and just about any sport that's had a television camera on the sideline. (If it sounds like a charmed life, Johnson happily admits it is. How charmed? He broadcast all four of the Detroit Lions preseason wins in 2008, before the team's 0-16 skid).

But his roaring calls, something like a roller coaster that only goes up, have become synonymous with the high stakes and high drama of March Madness.

And he has become the voice of college basketball.

Just ask EA Sports, which made Johnson the official play-by-play man of its latest college basketball game, NCAA Basketball 10. Johnson is the prime play-by-play voice for the CBS games on the video game, along with legendary color man Bill Raftery. Dick Vitale, Brad Nessler and Erin Andrews voice the ESPN games.

And, like the real Gus, the virtual version of the Detroit-born announcer, has no problem climbing the emotional ladder, even though every one of those calls required reading "stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks" of cue cards.

FanHouse caught up with the amplified voice of college basketball to talk about his virtual play-by-play for EA, his hockey days and how he became the best-known play-by-play man in college basketball.


FH: Between CBS Sports and your position as one of the play-by-play voices for EA Sports NCAA Basketball 10, you've become the play-by-play voice of college basketball. Is that where you thought you'd be when you began your broadcasting career?

GJ: It's nice to be a part of [college basketball]. It's ... how can you say it? It's a dream to be a broadcaster and to be the voice of [EA Sports NCAA 10], I think that's wonderful. I really never thought that would happen.

FH: How does the process work for a game like this? Do you and Bill Raftery sit down and read hundreds of cards?

GJ: It works exactly that way. They give us stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks and stacks of paper and it's every situation that happens in a college game -- Drilled from the top of the key! Shot from right wing, out of bounds, stick backs, block shots, everything. And you do them at different temperatures. Whatever happens is what we voice over. [Raftery] and I are just in a room with microphones. It's almost like being an actor. I felt like Denzel Washington.

[Raftery] and I went together. He's a riot. He gave up some of his signature phrases, the dagger, the onion, the kiss, "Send it in Jerome," You hear them all.

FH: How did you develop your uniquely enthusiastic style as a play-by-play man?

GJ: I just am who I am. I've always been a sports guy, playing everything. Baseball, ice hockey, football, basketball, I was a wrestler as a kid, did it all. Hockey might've been my best sport. I played it from squirts through bantam.... But I think my style developed when I went to college and I had a chance to be around people from all around. We would sit around and root for our teams -- guys from Chicago, Detroit, LA -- we'd get loud and enthusiastic. That's how I see it, I'm a fan. A fan of sports and I'm sitting around having fun. We're watching the greatest athletes in the world. I'm just excited to be in the building.

FH: How do you handle the criticism of those who feel like you're too carried away in the game and did you get push back coming up?

GJ: I had that stuff, but I didn't pay attention to the critics. I've always done it my own way. You can't listen to people like that, you've gotta be true to yourself.

FH: Do you think people appreciate how hard it is to do play-by-play with the amount of air you're filling?

GJ: I don't know, I think the average fan just wants to watch the game and be entertained by the game and have the announcers not screw it up. I think a good announcer doesn't screw up the game or make it a bad experience to listen to. You don't have to do a whole lot. Know as much. Certainly, you're going to make mistakes. That happens. But I think the average fan is just worried about a good experience and hopefully his team wins.

Announcers are great when your team wins. They're horrible when your team lost.

FH: If you could pick one color commentator to work with from any era, who would it be?

GJ: I've done games with so many of the best. Two that I'd love to are Dick Vitale and Hubie Brown.

FH: Who among national broadcasters is the one person the average fan should most want to have a beer with?

GJ: A bunch of them. Vitale, Al Michaels, when he does football he's like a genius, a legitimate genius. He's a wordsmith. When I watch him, I take out a notepad and write down what he uses in context, and steal them all. [Laughter] Marv Alberts is incredible in basketball, Mike Breen, he's my colleague, he's my friend. He has a tremendous attention to detail. Brad Nessler has that classic voice, that classic sound. Jim Nantz, Dick Enberg are titans of the industry, and can sit there and make the game fun.

My all-time favorite is, grew up listening to, I model everything I do after, is George Blaha [the longtime voice of the Detroit Pistons]. He represents a lot in my life, family, my city of Detroit. He knows how to bring positive energy to any situation, which is what I love about him. You always have that relationship with your local guy. He takes you through ups and downs of the team

FH: You are currently a one-man stimulus package for broadcasting with a long list of sports you call. Have you thought about scaling back?

GJ: I'm having a good time. I get tired, but this is a dream job. It's not a right, it's a privilege and it's a blessing. I'm going to work until I can't work anymore. My son is growing and I can't be gone from home as much in the future. He's 6. When it's time for him to start playing sports, something will have to be cut back. Meanwhile, I'm having a lot of fun.