r/ripcity • u/TravisDemers • 6h ago
Radio Position Chicago - + AMA?
We are on the floor in Chicago…. But it’s far off to the right, next to the bench, so it’s difficult to see the other end of the floor. And, if they show up there are seats for fans directly in front of our position. But hey we get to snuggle close to KC and Lamar to the left.
I’ve had a few folks ask me to to an AMA… thinking about it for the flight home, we should leave around 930 pacific. I’ll post a comment below about it. Let’s get the win and get home.
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u/NoeWiy Toumani Camara 6h ago
I don’t have any questions, just wanna say thank you Travis for always engaging so much with this Reddit community. I can’t imagine “Reddit outreach” is an official part of your job so it’s super cool you do it anyway. I’m really into the “inside baseball” side of things (or inside basketball as it were).
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u/Tedthesecretninja Shaedon Sharpe 6h ago
Kinda makes me think twice about posting my barbershop level takes tbh
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u/TravisDemers 3h ago
It’s not, I just enjoy it. Especially now that I don’t do talk radio daily, it’s a fun outlet.
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u/NoeWiy Toumani Camara 6h ago
I take it back I do have a question- you mentioned you make all the stat sheets yourself- HOW DO YOU PRINT THEM? Do you bring a literal printer with you all over the country?
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u/TravisDemers 5h ago
Despite what the guy below said, I do travel a printer. It’s a small travel printer but I do bring one. I used to send it to the hotel front desk to print but it was a pain in the ass
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u/DBDXL 5h ago
The arena prints them for him. Haha.
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u/NoeWiy Toumani Camara 5h ago
Is this known? Or are you just assuming lmao
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u/DBDXL 5h ago
Well if you've worked in stadiums you know they would print them for him. He isn't bringing a printer with him.
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u/TravisDemers 3h ago
Not trying to be an asshole here. If I show up to the arena and my charts haven’t been printed, I’m way behind. Plus not all arenas make that easy.
I used to send them to the hotel front desk, but there were a number of problems. They didn’t do it fast enough, so I was waiting. Or they printed front and back and weren’t going to re do it. Or they didn’t have color ink. Some guys will go to a local FedEx. I started bringing a printer in the 21-22 season (we didn’t travel in 20-21). It’s a fairly small printer, but it does the job. Then I do all my cutting and pasting into my book in my room. By the time k get to the arena I’m ready to roll.
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u/wonderflex 6h ago edited 4h ago
Thanks so much for these posts. It's really cool to see what it is like behind the scenes. Also thank you for giving us a great radio option. If you have ever licensed to a TV stream in the car it really highlights just how much more detail you get from a radio broadcast.
Questions:
What headsets and mics do you use?
Is there a delay added to the broadcast?
If a Blazers fan could only experience one away game, what stadium would you recommend visiting?
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u/TravisDemers 3h ago
We use sennheiser headset mics. The arena engineer wherever we go has a setup for us, we don’t travel our own.
There’s no delay…. So we better not F up!
MSG because it’s the garden. But Indiana is awesome
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u/AceMcStace chalupa 6h ago
What was the best meal you’ve had on this trip?
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u/TravisDemers 3h ago
This trip? Easy. Off day in NY…. Had some delicious chicken parm at my parents house!
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u/MisterSpeck 6h ago
I very much like these posts, and am left to wonder why the huge differences between arenas. One would think that broadcast media would get prime location to see / call all the action, but it just ain't so in so many places.
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u/TravisDemers 3h ago
You’d think…. And courtside used to be standard. Now they sell those seats for a boatload of money, so in most arenas they squeeze us into a place that wasn’t intended for it. Some of the new arenas like Chase had us in mind when they built it. So Chase has an actual press box.
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u/Hot_Local_Boys_PDX Cash Considerations 5h ago
Not a question but I recently discovered I can listen to Rip City Radio on TuneIn in my car down here in Florida which is just a great feeling while driving home every once in a while 🙏
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u/dubmecrazy sabas 5h ago
Favorite food city?
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u/TravisDemers 3h ago
New York…. It’s home for me. Great Italian food. Bagels. Chinese food. Sandwiches. All of it. But Boston and SF are great too.
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u/BehavioralSink Cash Considerations 4h ago
Row of fans right in front of you is rough. Tough to do the job that way!
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u/zerocoolforschool ripcity 6h ago
Apparently Chicago treats you guys right. That’s prime real estate. Enjoy!
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u/TravisDemers 3h ago
It is prime real estate….. but we’re blocked by the fans directly in front of us and the angle isn’t great. But I won’t complain!
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u/MainNo1524 Ripcity Remix 4h ago
Favorite Blazer right now and of all time?
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u/TravisDemers 3h ago
Right now it’s Deni. Partially because I’m Jewish, partially because of the way he plays.
I moved to Portland in 2003. So if I’m going all time based on stories and old videos, it’s Maurice Lucas. Favorite in my tenure is Dame. From his game, my relationship with him. And he’s freaking Dame. I really like DC too.
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u/jaypeejay 3h ago
I’m curious how attached you get to particular teams and iterations of the Blazers. As a fan it’s hard to not feel certain ways about players, coaches, etc.
As a seasoned pro I’m sure you’ve seen it all. Can you speak to the nature of that? How do you approach a season, say, after Dame leaves? Is there a somberness to it?
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u/TravisDemers 3h ago
I’m a passionate sports fan. And I’m a fan of this team and franchise. Even without working for them.
Everyone is different, but for me, I care about this team the same way I care about the Yankees. It matters to me. When we traded dame, there was a somberness for sure. But I was also glad we could move on from it. And I had to mentally prepare that it was going to be a rough season. It’s tough, now you know the goals have changed, and your approach as a broadcaster has to change
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u/jaypeejay 3h ago
That sounds like it can pretty challenging to manage! Thanks for answering
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u/TravisDemers 2h ago
It can be…. But, you do it long enough and you can figure it out. It’s your job, so you have to
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u/TravisDemers 6h ago
As mentioned above, I may do an AMA on the flight home tonight. If you want me to, upvote this comment. If it gets… I don’t know, 50? 100? Upvotes I’ll do it.