Spurs Brazil
01-27-2009, 02:10 PM
http://www.nba.com/spurs/features/090126_chuck.html
Who is Chuck?
Ben Hunt, spurs.com
The Spurs have endured a few injuries this season and behind the microphone courtside was no different. First year Spurs public address announcer Big Kev suffered an accident back in December that has required him to miss more than a month of action. But when injuries happen it opens the door for someone else to step up and fill the void. In this case Chuck Cureau, who is in his first season as co-arena host, was asked to give the public address duties a go.
Spurs.com's Ben Hunt was able to sit down with Chuck and find out how his transition from hosting on court promotions to behind the mic at the scorer's table is going.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ben Hunt: What were your first thoughts when you learned that you were going to be PA in the spell of Big Kev?
Chuck Cureau: I thought "wow, I know absolutely nothing about basketball." Hard to believe that you're 41-years-old and don't know a thing about basketball so I was concerned about the actual announcing, that I wouldn't be able to recognize any parts of the actual game. I think I have some skills in the announcing aspect of it, but as far as the actual game, the important part, I didn't know anything. I was relying on the scorer and Chris Garcia to help me out.
I really enjoyed it. I was nervous about it, but I really enjoyed the challenge of learning about fouls and traveling violations and the shot clock and the pronunciation of the players' names, which sometimes can be a challenge, but Bill Schoening of Spurs Radio really helps me out with that.
BH: The game is five minutes away, you're getting ready to call your first starting lineups for both teams, what's the thought process?
CC: The thought process when I was about to introduce the starting lineup that was going through my mind was that I didn't want my voice to crack like it did when I was 12 years old, and I didn't want to mess up the players' names.
I know all the players, I knew all the pronunciations but my nerves at that point were "oh my gosh, all these people in this arena are listening to me." It's a pivotal moment, this is where you get the crowd on your side, on the team's side and get them really pumped up. I didn't want to stutter and say, "T-T-Tony P-Parker," I didn't want to do that! I think I did OK.
BH: And once the game gets started?
CC: Once the game gets started I'm just trying to figure out which team had the ball, who made the shot, are they playing offense, are they playing defense?
Again, I didn't know anything about sports. I had never been an athletic guy, I never really enjoyed going to sporting events. It was always more of a social thing for me, as opposed to the game. It's still very much a social thing for me, but since I became affiliated with the Spurs I'm really learning the art of the game and really enjoying it and thinking "oh man, I really missed out over all these years of not paying attention to the game itself," and I'm really enjoying that aspect of it.
BH: Explain to someone who has never done PA before what it's like to all of a sudden be the voice for nearly 19,000 people. How do you prepare yourself mentally for that, and also, how do you deal with that stage fright and know that if you screw up, you need to just remember your lines and keep going?
CC: You roll with the punches and realize that with normal human speech, we stutter, we stammer, that's normal. People typically don't even recognize if you flub a line or a word within conversation, so in my mind I have to reassure myself that if I flub a line it's no big deal, most people won't even recognize it. A big concentration for me in all of my announcing—not just here, but everywhere—is that it's as conversational and real as possible as if the people in the arena are listening to their friend tell a story, whether it be about the game going on, whether it be the story of a particular promotion going on, I just want it to sound conversational and fun so that people think "oh, that's my friend Chuck telling me who committed a foul and who's at the free throw line," so that's a big thing for me. I want it to be fun and I want it to be conversational.
BH: There was a very large improvement from your first night to your second night, and I know a lot of people told you how well you had done. Once you get started and get that confidence going, is it like riding a bike?
CC: Yeah it definitely got easier. The guys in the video department helped me out. They gave me DVD copies to listen to it, and I realized I needed to improve on some things.
Just doing a little bit of homework helped me to improve, and it has a snowball effect. You see a little bit of improvement. In week two, the confidence is built up, and I can do a little bit better in week three, it just builds on itself. I'm still really nervous, I don't want to mess up, I want to do the organization proud.
I'm so incredibly excited and so incredibly blessed to have a relationship with this organization, I don't want to mess it up. I want it to be a long relationship.
BH: How much homework did you have to do, and how much to you still do to be better?
CC: Every day before a game I'll go online and look up the opposing team's lineup. I have a spreadsheet I fill out with all of their names, all of their numbers so that I can accurately keep track of personal fouls and team fouls. If I can't figure out what it is or if they don't seem familiar to me, I'll go to my buddy Bill Schoening who helps me out a lot.
I got an NBA official rules and regulations handbook and browsed through that. I also take a lot of notes. I'll write down notes throughout the game. I type them up to really ingrain them in my head. Maybe it's a pronunciation thing, or maybe it's some idea of how to present someone's name or to present a violation or foul, or pump up the crowd with a "defense," or some interesting catchphrase to pump up the crowd and make it my own.
BH: Many fans, especially ones that have never come to a game probably don't realize who Chuck is, and here's your first season doing on-court stuff. Who is Chuck? Give us a little background about you.
CC: By day I work at Sea World as a Beluga Whale and dolphin trainer. I perform with whales and dolphins in a wonderful show called "Viva." Aside from that I'm also a professional actor, I've done a couple of children's television shows. One of the shows was nominated for a daytime Emmy, so I was able to walk the red carpet and experience that.
I'm an uncle. I have two nephews and a niece and I'm very proud of them. They're awesome, and they think it's really cool that their Uncle Chuck gets to be on the court next to their favorites, which are Bruce Bowen, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. They always ask me if I speak to them during the game. Of course they have other things on their mind than my nephews and my niece.
I'm just an average guy trying to make a difference in the world. That sounds cliché but I just want to use my skills and my talents to create happiness for myself and others.
BH: Did Uncle Chuck ever imagine going from on-court to actually calling these players out by name?
CC: Oh for crying out loud! It's so interesting to me the way my life has turned. I didn't learn to swim until I was 21-years-old when I got the job at Sea World, so that's a long time to go without swimming. I didn't know anything about basketball until I was 41 years old and in this position that I'm loving. I'm so blessed. It's funny because I talked to my buddies when this all happened—I don't deserve this, I don't deserve this—they've spent their whole lives following the NBA and following sports and I'm just like "meh, let's go to the movies," while they're all about the game, and here it is, it fell into my lap and I'm very grateful for it. I'm eager to do a good job and to learn more about basketball.
BH: Big Kev's about a month away from returning, are you ready to get back on the court or do you like where you're at?
CC: I'm really enjoying this year, but as I've said many times and as I told Big Kev after his accident, I'm simply keeping his seat warm for him until he comes back. I don't want to take anything away from him.
http://www.nba.com/media/spurs/090126_chuck_300.jpg
Who is Chuck?
Ben Hunt, spurs.com
The Spurs have endured a few injuries this season and behind the microphone courtside was no different. First year Spurs public address announcer Big Kev suffered an accident back in December that has required him to miss more than a month of action. But when injuries happen it opens the door for someone else to step up and fill the void. In this case Chuck Cureau, who is in his first season as co-arena host, was asked to give the public address duties a go.
Spurs.com's Ben Hunt was able to sit down with Chuck and find out how his transition from hosting on court promotions to behind the mic at the scorer's table is going.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ben Hunt: What were your first thoughts when you learned that you were going to be PA in the spell of Big Kev?
Chuck Cureau: I thought "wow, I know absolutely nothing about basketball." Hard to believe that you're 41-years-old and don't know a thing about basketball so I was concerned about the actual announcing, that I wouldn't be able to recognize any parts of the actual game. I think I have some skills in the announcing aspect of it, but as far as the actual game, the important part, I didn't know anything. I was relying on the scorer and Chris Garcia to help me out.
I really enjoyed it. I was nervous about it, but I really enjoyed the challenge of learning about fouls and traveling violations and the shot clock and the pronunciation of the players' names, which sometimes can be a challenge, but Bill Schoening of Spurs Radio really helps me out with that.
BH: The game is five minutes away, you're getting ready to call your first starting lineups for both teams, what's the thought process?
CC: The thought process when I was about to introduce the starting lineup that was going through my mind was that I didn't want my voice to crack like it did when I was 12 years old, and I didn't want to mess up the players' names.
I know all the players, I knew all the pronunciations but my nerves at that point were "oh my gosh, all these people in this arena are listening to me." It's a pivotal moment, this is where you get the crowd on your side, on the team's side and get them really pumped up. I didn't want to stutter and say, "T-T-Tony P-Parker," I didn't want to do that! I think I did OK.
BH: And once the game gets started?
CC: Once the game gets started I'm just trying to figure out which team had the ball, who made the shot, are they playing offense, are they playing defense?
Again, I didn't know anything about sports. I had never been an athletic guy, I never really enjoyed going to sporting events. It was always more of a social thing for me, as opposed to the game. It's still very much a social thing for me, but since I became affiliated with the Spurs I'm really learning the art of the game and really enjoying it and thinking "oh man, I really missed out over all these years of not paying attention to the game itself," and I'm really enjoying that aspect of it.
BH: Explain to someone who has never done PA before what it's like to all of a sudden be the voice for nearly 19,000 people. How do you prepare yourself mentally for that, and also, how do you deal with that stage fright and know that if you screw up, you need to just remember your lines and keep going?
CC: You roll with the punches and realize that with normal human speech, we stutter, we stammer, that's normal. People typically don't even recognize if you flub a line or a word within conversation, so in my mind I have to reassure myself that if I flub a line it's no big deal, most people won't even recognize it. A big concentration for me in all of my announcing—not just here, but everywhere—is that it's as conversational and real as possible as if the people in the arena are listening to their friend tell a story, whether it be about the game going on, whether it be the story of a particular promotion going on, I just want it to sound conversational and fun so that people think "oh, that's my friend Chuck telling me who committed a foul and who's at the free throw line," so that's a big thing for me. I want it to be fun and I want it to be conversational.
BH: There was a very large improvement from your first night to your second night, and I know a lot of people told you how well you had done. Once you get started and get that confidence going, is it like riding a bike?
CC: Yeah it definitely got easier. The guys in the video department helped me out. They gave me DVD copies to listen to it, and I realized I needed to improve on some things.
Just doing a little bit of homework helped me to improve, and it has a snowball effect. You see a little bit of improvement. In week two, the confidence is built up, and I can do a little bit better in week three, it just builds on itself. I'm still really nervous, I don't want to mess up, I want to do the organization proud.
I'm so incredibly excited and so incredibly blessed to have a relationship with this organization, I don't want to mess it up. I want it to be a long relationship.
BH: How much homework did you have to do, and how much to you still do to be better?
CC: Every day before a game I'll go online and look up the opposing team's lineup. I have a spreadsheet I fill out with all of their names, all of their numbers so that I can accurately keep track of personal fouls and team fouls. If I can't figure out what it is or if they don't seem familiar to me, I'll go to my buddy Bill Schoening who helps me out a lot.
I got an NBA official rules and regulations handbook and browsed through that. I also take a lot of notes. I'll write down notes throughout the game. I type them up to really ingrain them in my head. Maybe it's a pronunciation thing, or maybe it's some idea of how to present someone's name or to present a violation or foul, or pump up the crowd with a "defense," or some interesting catchphrase to pump up the crowd and make it my own.
BH: Many fans, especially ones that have never come to a game probably don't realize who Chuck is, and here's your first season doing on-court stuff. Who is Chuck? Give us a little background about you.
CC: By day I work at Sea World as a Beluga Whale and dolphin trainer. I perform with whales and dolphins in a wonderful show called "Viva." Aside from that I'm also a professional actor, I've done a couple of children's television shows. One of the shows was nominated for a daytime Emmy, so I was able to walk the red carpet and experience that.
I'm an uncle. I have two nephews and a niece and I'm very proud of them. They're awesome, and they think it's really cool that their Uncle Chuck gets to be on the court next to their favorites, which are Bruce Bowen, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. They always ask me if I speak to them during the game. Of course they have other things on their mind than my nephews and my niece.
I'm just an average guy trying to make a difference in the world. That sounds cliché but I just want to use my skills and my talents to create happiness for myself and others.
BH: Did Uncle Chuck ever imagine going from on-court to actually calling these players out by name?
CC: Oh for crying out loud! It's so interesting to me the way my life has turned. I didn't learn to swim until I was 21-years-old when I got the job at Sea World, so that's a long time to go without swimming. I didn't know anything about basketball until I was 41 years old and in this position that I'm loving. I'm so blessed. It's funny because I talked to my buddies when this all happened—I don't deserve this, I don't deserve this—they've spent their whole lives following the NBA and following sports and I'm just like "meh, let's go to the movies," while they're all about the game, and here it is, it fell into my lap and I'm very grateful for it. I'm eager to do a good job and to learn more about basketball.
BH: Big Kev's about a month away from returning, are you ready to get back on the court or do you like where you're at?
CC: I'm really enjoying this year, but as I've said many times and as I told Big Kev after his accident, I'm simply keeping his seat warm for him until he comes back. I don't want to take anything away from him.
http://www.nba.com/media/spurs/090126_chuck_300.jpg