From the latest edition of the Announcer Schedules Podcast, Mike Gill and Phil de Montmollin are joined by accomplished play-by-play announcer Roxy Bernstein (ESPN, Pac-12 Network, Oakland A’s) for a wide-ranging conversation with topics including:
- How Bernstein’s career evolved from Cal-Berkeley to ESPN
- His recent experience with Auburn Men’s Basketball in Israel
- What it’s like to work with Bill Walton
- A trip with Walton to a Dead and Company concert
- Working as a local MLB announcer (A’s, Giants and Marlins)
- An Experience as the Voice of the XFL’s San Francisco Demons
- Five Games in Five Days and Two Sports in Two Countries
- Calling the Home Run Derby on ESPN Radio
Bernstein on Bill Walton:
Bill is brilliant, he really is and he’s got a method to his madness … If he wanted to be cookie-cutter analyst, Bill’s done that. He could do it. But Bill, I think this is good simulation for him. His ability to inform the audience and make it a well-rounded broadcast, to culture the audience so there not just laser-focused in on this game.
Bernstein further reveals that Walton intentionally avoids conversations with his broadcast partner until going on-air on gameday:
He never opens the door to what is going to happen that night. Essentially the first conversation of that day that Bill and I are having is ‘Hi. Welcome to Pauley Pavillion, along with the Hall of Famer Bill Walton, I’m Roxy Bernstein. We go to shootarounds and we sit at opposite ends of the gym.
