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Last month, I attended a live taping of the NPR show “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!” in downtown Chicago.
The special guest? Bob Costas, sports broadcasting legend. During the show, host Peter Segal asked Costas about his origin story – how he got into broadcasting. Here’s how Costas remembered it… As a boy, he loved all sports, in particular baseball and basketball. But during high school tryouts, he wasn’t recruited to join either team. The school’s baseball coach was also the math teacher, giving him a unique vantage point to know Costas as a student and an athlete. He shared this observation with Costas: “You can run a bit, catch a bit, hit a bit, but you’re not shining in any sport.” The coach then offered a suggestion that defined the path for Costas: “You’re always talking about baseball, and you know more about baseball than any of my players. Have you ever thought about broadcasting?” Costas responded eagerly, “That’s pretty much all I think about!” The coach affirmed decisively, “Good. Try that.” So Costas did. After high school, he attended the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, the Harvard of broadcasting schools. He left college early for an opportunity to broadcast basketball games in St. Louis. He then moved to Chicago to cover the Bulls. And in 1980, NBC hired Costas to broadcast everything from baseball to boxing, from golf to NASCAR, from football to the Kentucky Derby, and the Olympics. Today, Costas is a Hall of Fame broadcaster. Over his 52-year career, he has earned 29 Emmys across sports, news, and entertainment. Mentors see people – not just as they are, but as they could be. By giving voice to their vision, Mentors often validate a Mentee’s innermost hopes and aspirations. This oxygen can breathe life into a Mentee’s career path, permitting them to see it too. As a Mentor, one of our superpowers is helping a Mentee see what we see – their bigger, better, bolder future. “If we take man as he is, we make him worse; but if we take man as he could be, we make him capable of becoming what he can be.” ~ Viktor E. Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning © 2025. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved. |