Buzzntheburgh interviews legendary Bob Ryan

The Boston Globe and ESPN personality talks journalism, Pittsburgh, and his music favorites

Interview By: Josh King – @JoshK65

Pardon the interruption- Ryan makes it clear he is a sports fan first

Boston should be thankful to have a guy like Bob Ryan as a member of their local press. We at Buzzntheburgh.com deal with the press regularly and let’s just say Ryan is a breath of fresh air. To see someone who has achieved success for decades still act like a decent human just gives a sense of refreshment.

Bob Ryan has been covering sports (NBA is what most fans worship him for) via the Boston Globe since the 70’s. It’s not a secret that he’s considered among the very best at his craft. He describes how it was like in the 70’s, (to me it sounded like a very fun wild wild west were the good old boys like Ryan did what they wanted as members of the press) recalls one of the best baseball games he’s ever witnessed, and what it’s like to be in the media nowadays.

“What separates me from many and most people in the business is that I’m a much bigger sports fan. You get so many guys that will say  objectivity this and I don’t care who wins and loses. I don’t understand the thinking. – Bob Ryan

I have a simple theory I’ve used and kept it simple and it’s this. I always assume you didn’t see the game and tell it almost like a movie critic would.  If you did see the game hopefully I can provide enlightenment by a pointing out a certain situation. It’s almost like I wanted you ask you how do u feel about the game,  I tried bringing something extra to the game,” – Bob Ryan tells Buzzntheburgh.com

“In addition to the fact, NBA were accessible and the atmosphere was all friendly. It was almost like a fraternity with the media, players, and teams. By the time things changed, I was established for one thing. I had the luxury to be able to play the game my way. Technology is a two edge sword. One hand it’s easier to produce situations that you couldn’t before because you would be chained to the office. You couldn’t write in any other format physically. You had a type writer then you would have had to hand a copy to someone or use western union. That’s the way it was before technology changed how it’s done forever.” – Bob Ryan on technology and the difference of the earlier generations.

@joshk65 : What kind of music does Bob Ryan listen to?

@GlobeBobRyan:

Bob Ryan listens to  Sirius Xm 99% of the time. I listen to nothing local. I have 7 stations – 40s, 50’s, 60’s  Broadway Sinatra, Espn Radio, ESPN College, and a jazz station thrown in there. I’m a big Beatles and Sinatra guy. I always always have been into Broadway and Jazz. Big 50’s and 60’s Rock n’ Roll guy.

You have to appreciate him going with the 3rd person intro. It’s classic Bob Ryan. Any American can relate to a guy like that who isn’t afraid to do things his way.