Doc Emrick

“If there’s one thing you should remember, it’s that Falcons never quit,” Mike Emrick said to an audience of Bowling Green State University (BGSU) students and faculty.

Mike “Doc” Emrick, a BGSU alumnus, is currently the lead announcer for the National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts for NBC and for NBC Sports. Emrick coined his nickname “Doc” while obtaining his Ph.D. in broadcast communications, now the School of Media and Communication, at BGSU in 1976. Emrick earned his master’s degree from Miami University, and a bachelor’s degree from Manchester University in Indiana.

Emrick began his career doing radio broadcasts for minor league hockey teams around the country, often with no pay.

“It was an investment in myself,” said Emrick. “That was the way I was going to get to know people in the business.”

Emrick became the first voice for the New Jersey Devils hockey team in 1983. He then went on to work for the Philadelphia Flyers, where he stayed until 2011, when he decided to work only for NBC. Emrick has called 18 Stanley Cup Finals.

In 2011, Emrick won an Emmy for “Outstanding Sports Personality-Play by Play.” Currently he serves as vice president for the NHL Broadcasters Association and is a member of the NHL Hall of Fame selection committee.

Emrick chose to focus a large portion of his speech on helping those students who want to work in sport broadcasting.

“I could probably tell you brawls and bench clearing stories, promotions that went south and all that, but this needs to be for you now,” said Emrick. “It’s your time.”

Emrick offered tips to students who are preparing to apply for their first post-graduate job in the field.

“Don’t be discouraged when someone says no,” Emrick said. “Learn from it. Better yourself, and come back next time even better than you were before.”

Emrick also offered advice about interviewing for jobs that included not taking a cell phone in to the interview, trying not to use the word “like” more than once in a sentence, and dressing as professional as possible.

Emrick ended his speech by encouraging students to believe in themselves.

“I still get nervous before every game,” Emrick said. “You want to do a good job. You want every game to be the best one yet. Trust yourself. Trust that you know how to do a good job.”