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| 29 Jul 2010 03:40:44 pm |
| BOB SHEPPARD, Yankees' Legendary Public-Address Announcer |
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“I don’t go to work, I go to a game!”
Today’s [I]Real Zeal[/I] quote came from Bob Sheppard, longtime Yankees announcer, during an interview and feature article by ESPN baseball analyst, Buster Olney.
To view the entire piece.
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For Bob Sheppard (who died at the age of 99 on July 12), today’s Real Zeal words were literally true. For more than half a century, he introduced each player who stepped up to the plate at Yankee stadium. Many called him the ‘Voice of God.’
Few of us can make the same claim as Bob Sheppard – at least in a literal sense. But each of us could ask ourselves the question: How could I create my work – the place where I spend such a large portion of my life – as a game?
Creating our work as a game has a huge upside. Work often brings with it negative energy. Synonyms include words like effort, toil, and drudgery. But going to a game every day? Now that has a lot of juice! A tremendous sense of fun and power.
Here’s the truth – we can create a game out of anything. Our game could be … teaching 4th graders how to write … raising children to be fun-loving, upstanding adults … selling paint to hardware stores … leading a company to be the best in its market.
What is your unique game? Fill in the blanks for yourself. Then … savor these words; roll them around on your tongue: I don’t go to work … I go to a game!
Too many people go to ‘work’ every day. The lucky ones, the smart ones, the creative ones … like Bob Sheppard … go to a game every day.
To learn more about Bob Sheppard, please read on.
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Bob Sheppard loved being articulate. His job, he said, was not to be funny or verbose or dramatic. It was to be clear, concise and precise. And for more than fifty years, Bob Sheppard introduced every player who walked up to home plate at Yankee Stadium. That’s a lot of stars and a ton of baseball moments. And Bob Sheppard loved it.
And the players loved him. Derek Jeter, Yankees captain, had this to say about Bob Sheppard: "Players changed year in and year out, he was the one constant. Every time you heard it, you got chills." In fact, even today, Bob Sheppard introduces Jeter – via a recording!
Bob Sheppard was not only a baseball announcer. He was also a teacher – teaching speech for over thirty years at New York public schools and then at St. John’s University. He believes his biggest contribution in life was through his teaching.
From a 2000 interview with American Sportscaster Association President Lou Schwartz:
“My sports activity seems to cut down on what I really contributed to society, and that's teaching. … When I hear from former students and they say I helped them achieve their goals, I feel I have contributed to society more than all I have done in sports.”
A legend, an inspiration, and a man who didn’t go to work … but to a game! |
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Category : General
| Posted By : admin |
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