A lot of reporters talk about being committed to a story. But how many of them really put themselves out there to tell the tale?

Sportswriters often criticize professional athletes for not giving it their all on the field. But how many of them really know what it takes to get on the field in the first place. I joined in some practice sessions with the guys from Real Salt Lake.

Air shows are amazing to watch from the ground, but they’re even cooler when you’re up in the air.

We were doing a story on the new urologist in town, and needed some b-roll to show the vasectomy process. So I filmed my own surgery. That’s commitment, people.

So once again, the TV station has reduced its staff, which means I am once again picking up the camera and shooting my own packages (I will often edit the stuff our videographers have shot in order to get the story the way I want it).  Here’s a few of the latest features:

Testing out some new camping gear – shot this one “Bear Grylls-style”

 

Local artist getting his first major show in years.

 

Debut novelist talking about his work. Again, note that I have no teleprompter, no notes, and no producer or staff to come up with questions for me.

 

New mountain bike skills park opens in Park City. I admit the titles aren’t the best, but this was a crash edit to get it on the air.

Hanging out in the PCTV studio

So I’ve been sending out a lot of resumes lately, for a number of different jobs, and I keep telling people they can find out more about me here on my website. Well, one of the best ways to find out about who I am is to read this profile from the Salt Lake City Weekly, it covers a lot about my background, and my philosophy on the news business and how we should try to fix it.

GAVIN’S UNDERGROUND (Salt Lake City Weekly)

Kudos to Sports Illustrated (and SI.com) for posting Joe Posnanski’s list of 32 great sports calls (“Down goes Frazier!” “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”).

It reminded me of some of my own favorite moments from the booth, including the 1990 Michigan – Michigan State game, when I was announcing for WJJX radio.  Michigan was ranked #1 in the country and had just scored a touchdown to pull within one with 10 seconds left.  This was before overtime, so they went for two.  Desmond Howard got tripped in the endzone and dropped the winning pass, and for a good 30 seconds, my color man went into full “Rain Man” mode, repeating “Howard dropped the ball.  Howard dropped the ball. He dropped the ball.” I don’t know how many people were listening that afternoon, but the sadness in that phrase still hits me – especially this past weekend when the Wolverines lost to Sparty again, in my first game back in Ann Arbor in 11 years.

On a happier note, here’s my vote for one of the greatest game calls ever, the inimitable Bob Ufer calling the 1979 Michigan vs. Indiana game.  I was at the stadium for this, but the radio call is even better than being there.

Sometimes, you do an interview and it’s just so smooth and easy that you forget that there’s a show going on.  That happened to me today with my conversation with author Steven Kotler about his book, “A Small Furry Prayer.”  The subject matter – guy leaves LA to start a Chihuahua rescue home in Chimayo, New Mexico – was something close to me as one who is the caretaker for a rescued Vizsla.

After the interview, we probably kept on talking about the book and other things for another half-hour, and could have gone on much longer if he didn’t have to get to a book signing.

That’s why it was so nice to get this note that he sent to one of my colleagues when I returned to my desk after the show:

Ori Hoffer is, without a doubt, the very best TV interviewer I’ve yet dealt with—and I’ve done quite a bit of TV along the way. Usually book shows lack energy and humor and end up being pretentious for no good reason. Ori was the exact opposite … an absolute pleasure to work with… and what a magnetic TV presence he has. I really, really, really enjoyed the interview, thanks a ton for having me on.

Thanks Steven.  That made my day.

http://saltlakemagazine.com

Before I started in TV, I worked in radio.  In college, I worked at the campus radio station, WCBN-FM as a reporter, talk show host, play-by-play announcer and eventually Sports Director.  Later I worked at NPR, and my first real gig here in Park City was as a reporter/producer/host at KPCW-FM.

Here are a few of my favorite feature stories from my radio days:

• Israeli Bobsled Team
• The Monkey Bar Hits Park City
• Music Teacher Bill Huhnke Remembered

And some of my best interviews (note that some are pretty long):

• Alex Gibney & Eugene Jarecki talk about Enron & the Military Industrial Complex
• Chris Isaak - Actor/Musician or Musician/Actor?
• Legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman

So we’ve actually had a little more free time of late here at the station, so I’ve been able to knock out a couple more features that I shot & edited. Enjoy!

This weekend Real Salt Lake will take on the Los Angeles Galaxy for the MLS Cup.  RSL had a regular season record under .500, and they needed a miracle just to make the playoffs.  What was different about the team this year to get them this far?  Well, a lot of things, but earlier this season, a number of the team’s top players trained for a day with…

I’m just sayin’…