Trautwig Hosts First National AFL Studio Show
Matthew Pickut
Thursday January 30, 2003
“We’ll come on the air for about eight minutes at the beginning and discuss football news,” revealed Emmy Award winning studio host Al Trautwig. “Our plan is that we want to appeal to the football fan who has gotten into the habit of watching football every Sunday and that would like to continue to watch football.”
Former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin, and Buffalo Bill and New York Giant Glen Parker will join Trautwig in studio to provide an avenue for football fans to stay in touch with the game they love. “The AFL is a way he or she can do that. So we’ll deal with some football news for those few minutes and get people ready to watch the game in their area,” said Trautwig.
Trautwig’s involvement in start-up leagues stems from his youth. “Going back to when I was a kid I was a ball boy in the ABA,” remembered Trautwig, “and I’ve always had a soft spot for other leagues like the USFL.” Trautwig also did play-by-play for the North American Soccer League in the 80’s. As a host of ABC’s Wide World of Sports his experience covering a variety of events prepared him for the assignment.
Even with an impressive current workload (currently he works for the Madison Square Garden Network, covering the New York Knicks and Rangers, and hosting the nightly show, "Angles") that would allow him to pick and choose his opportunities, working with the AFL was not a hard sell. “I’ve been to a couple of Arena games here and I liked it. When they first approached me it was about doing games, and I was like ‘Okay, great,’” said Trautwig looking back. “And then about the studio show, I was like ‘Okay, Great.’ It really didn’t take me long to make a decision and I’m really looking forward to working with these guys.”
Trautwig credits fellow NBC analyst Pat Haden for helping him prepare for covering the AFL. “I’m still doing it [preparing]. Probably the best thing that I did was talk to Pat Haden,” remarked Trautwig. “He’s a color analysis on some of our games and he’s a really smart guy [he’s actually a Rhodes Scholar], and he spent some time with the LA team. He came back with some really cool theories and ideas, subtleties of the game. [Like] when to give up a touchdown on purpose to get the ball back -- that was the best thing that we did. I can’t wait to hear him do an entire season.”
Using the work of Haden and personal experience, Trautwig, Irvin, and Parker will try to educate new fans and provide the information hard-core AFL fans desire. “I think it’s going to be a little bit tricky because I think there is a tendency for some people to think, ‘Okay, NBC is doing this; it’s a new thing,’ and yet over 15 million people have attended AFL games over its seasons,” said Trautwig. “I think that we have to be careful and not neglect the people who have been watching this sport for a long, long time.”
Both old and new fans of the indoor game can expect a spirited studio show from the trio. “I think the one thing you really have to do is appreciate them [established fans] and appreciate the new people,” continued Trautwig, “and do whatever you’re doing with energy and enthusiasm and hopefully both groups will appreciate it.”
Matthew Pickut is a pastor in northern Indiana and a long time AFL fan. He also writes for his own website: The Brown Paper Blog. He graduated from Taylor University in Upland Indiana (class of `96) with degrees in Biblical Literature and Sociology as well as a healthy respect for the medicinal properties of coffee.
