Ryan Ruocco on the Her Hoop Stats podcast
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This week on the Her Hoop Stats podcast, John Liddle talked with ESPN WNBA play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco about the 2020 WNBA Draft, the thrill of calling games, and more.
Read the highlights from the interview below and listen to the entire episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Episode Highlights
On the draft:
It was great. First and foremost, it was just good to see Rebecca [Lobo] and see Sue [Bird] and see some of the other members of our crew who I’ve missed the human interaction with. Even though there was no hugs, and there was distance kept, and there was masks worn with the exception of when we were on the air, it was just really nice to see each other and be able to have that interaction. And then to have a night where you were focusing on something positive about these women, which we haven’t had a whole lot of during this period of time. Now we’re a month removed, but that was the first real event we had in sports during the COVID era, so to speak. It just felt good to get lost in sport for a night and in an event and in TV and in production in a way that we just hadn’t been able to in those initial weeks after the lockdown. I had a blast.
On why he loves play-by-play:
Because it’s the closest thing you can do to playing other than coaching. I really believe, to capture the energy of the game and the essence of the competition, it’s the thing that most similarly duplicates the energy of playing. What it is, it’s like a performance. Anybody can relate to giving a presentation and there’s a different kind of adrenaline and there’s a different performance high that comes with presenting rather than just preparing in your office or having a normal work day. When you have those presentations, let’s say at work or on a call or whatever it might be … there’s a certain performance high that comes with that. That’s what I get from play-by-play. I get the joy of feeling like I’m part of the fan’s experience, which is meaningful to me because broadcasters played such a role in my experience as a die-hard sports fan growing up. And I get the energy and adrenaline of trying to duplicate the rhythm and the cadence and the energy of the game. And then I get the performance high from it. When you come off a triple-overtime game or a really meaningful game or a buzzer-beater or extra innings or whatever it might be, there’s this awesome high to it that’s just really hard to duplicate throughout other events and walks in life. I crave that energy from it.
On the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the WNBA season:
I think, from the league perspective, as much as it is sort of a blow, initially, to the excitement about this year ... I do believe that the circumstances surrounding sports could provide even more of a stage when the WNBA does come back. We’re all starved. We just saw NASCAR released today record ratings, highest ratings in three years. We’ve seen the ratings for The Last Dance. People are watching [Korean baseball] and watched German soccer this weekend. We’re all starved for sports, and I do believe—and we saw it with the WNBA draft, too, by the way, with record ratings. I do believe that when the league comes back—and I do think we will get a season at some point—that we will have record eyeballs on it and attention. And that, at least, makes me feel better about what the league has had to endure.
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Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also buy Her Hoop Stats gear, such as laptop stickers, mugs, and shirts!