This 'Real Sports' Segment On Doc Emrick Was Just Fantastic
HBO’s Real Sports did a segment on Doc Emrick last night and above is just a small clip of that. If you get the chance, I suggest checking out the full segment since it’s only like 15 minutes long and well worth all of those minutes. Because we, as hockey fans, are so lucky to be able to listen to the greatest voice in all of sports every single week. Pound for pound, I don’t think I can think of anyone else who can call any game quite as magically as Mike Emrick calls a hockey game. The game of hockey is the perfect combination of both grit and grace. It’s both barbaric and it’s elegant. And Doc Emrick is able to poetically bring that all together in a way that nobody else is able to do. It’s the reason why he’s called 6 Olympics, 17 Stanley Cup Finals, has won 3 Emmy Awards and has been inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame (he’s the only hockey broadcaster to do those last two). Here are a couple quick highlights from the segment before you watch the whole thing yourself.
– There was a quick interview with Al Michael in which he said, “If you had a cockroach race in your basement, he [Emrick] bring it to life for you”. I don’t think that truer words have ever been spoken. I’ve had this idea for a while now that there needs to be an Uber like service that you can get Doc Emrick to come narrate your life for like half an hour at a time. That’s my million dollar idea though so don’t any of you assholes try to take that from me.
– The camera crew followed Doc around during his prep work on the day of the game and the man is a goddamn work horse. He’s taking all the notes in the world at the morning skates. He goes around and visits seemingly everybody that works at the arena. Like everybody. He goes to meet up with local business owners. It’s insane how much this guy does to get ready to call a game. And obviously it all works because the man is a genius and a wizard and one of the best things about being a hockey fan is being able to listen to his calls.
– Doc is a huge fan of fighting which makes him one of us. This probably had to have been a huge kick in the dick for all those Twitter eggs out there who are trying to get fighting out of the game but the man who is the voice of hockey says that it’s one of his favorite parts. Not just because it’s barbarically entertaining, but because he says that it’s what the guys who do the fighting in the league want to do. They know what they’re signing up for the moment the get into the NHL and they realize the risks that are laid out in front of them. Yet they still bleed for their team because they know that’s what they need to do. Fucking love it.
– Oh, and you can all thank the Philadelphia Flyers for bringing Doc Emrick into your life because that’s who he got his first start in the NHL with. Before the Flyers, Mike Emrick was just a kid watching games by himself in Fort Wayne, Indiana calling the play-by-play into a recorder. A few steps later, the Flyers give him a shot in the NHL and now we all get to cherish that beautiful man every Wednesday night and on Saturday/Sunday afternoons and especially on January 1st or 2nd every year for the Winter Classic. There’s nothing better than getting to hear Doc on New Years Day calling the outdoor game. Nothing.