Dont' want it to be a mother's day article but I always wondered why son's of famous athletes' mother gets the blame not the credit for their son's success. In this case, its Ernie Johnson Jr. Every article about Jr. relates to his father and how Sr. will talk about how tough he was on him and how he made go through "the hardway", blah, bla, blah. Yet, read an article about Ernie Johnson's Sr., he always gives credit to his wife for taking care of the kids while he was on the road, broadcasting for 50 years or more.
I have only seen Dusty Baker give credit to Barry Bonds' mother, Pat through her genetics (she ran track in high school) and her competitive spirit that was passed on to Barry. Senior can take credit for a lot of things but dealing with ego's of former athletes is not one of them. Charles Barkley. Charles would have crushed Sr. so bad, it wouldn't be funny. Yes, Ernie, Sr. was in the Marines, "faught" in World War II and pitched for the Milwaukee Braves. However, Charles would have said, but I did you wife. Sr. would have gone home crying, thinking about cutting himself or joining the Klan. Charles would be like "what did I do?" On the other hand, Jr. would have matched Charles ego with diplomacy and said "so did I." That he learned from his momma.
The studio host is like a QB in football or the point in basketball. They have to master all vocal deliveries and know when to deliver the lines. He has to master the script of himself, his guest, and his partners. The host has to take charge in these terms; who to pass to, who to share, and vie other host an equal chance to perform et shine. Finally, the host has to be the toughest guy in the studio. Kenny the Jet and Charles. John Smoltz and Ron Darling. Former athletes with egos who played the game. You can't be soft and passive or they will run you over (Chris Speilman) or come hard with an attitude like of Marty Brennaman (You can talk that regional bull but you can't handle ego's of former athletes who are like you).
The news folks from Fox, CBS, and ABC couldn't do this in a group(Barbara Walters had trouble with Starr Jones?). Likewise, famous broadcasters of Vin Scully, Brennaman, Jack Buck, Ernie Harwell, Harry Kalas, and yours truly, Ernie Johnson, Sr. could do it if they had guys who shucked up to them or great friends. You always saw either the broadcaster kiss up to the color-man or other way around. These broadcasters always played the straight man with no ego front which annoyed the heck out of me. Cause deep down, they had big egos but couldn't take the intensity of being "commander of chief." That is why you had Harry Caray with Skip and Skip with Chip. Marty with Thom.
Now, when people talk about family connections and so on in all walks of life. I don't have jealousy component due to this view. Yes, the Alberts are known in TV and so are Vesceys in print. They have that chip on that shoulder that "nothing was given to them and everything earned" attitude. Which is true. Now, Ernie would fit into this category. However, unlike Kenny Albert and the others, Jr. groomed himself well (with the help of Sr.) to kill the teacher, his father. Not many can do this. Fate intervened with the Earnhardt's but it didn't with the Johnson's. Ernie did become a Christian after he split from his father in 1996 from the Braves.
Kudos to Ernie Johnson, Sr. for having the abilities of his father and his mother to balance out the ego's of Charles, The Jet, and Craig Sager. He may come from family but those dudes know that he can kill you with dignity and respect. That is true with Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken and others. He did a lot of work: coverage or World Cup 1990, Goodwill Games, NFL, and he did Local TV for WSB-WSPA-WMAZ-WAGQ. However, it is his ability to kill the teacher (Shaq) which is why he is the Kung Fu Master of Broadcasting. You can give credit to his momma including Charles.
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