GaryMrMets
02-05-2002, 12:16 AM
http://www.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/nym/news/nym_news_story.jsp?article_id=mlb_20020204_batting aroundvasgersian_news&team_id=mlb
News
2/4/2002 9:00 am ET
Batting Around with Padres broadcaster Matt Vasgersian
By Sandy Burgin
MLB.com
Matt Vasgersian is the new TV voice of the Padres, coming to San Diego after broadcasting the Milwaukee Brewers for five years. The 34-year-old California native, who graduated from USC, brings with him a very interesting resume. As a child, he appeared on TV with Karl Malden and Michael Douglas in "The Streets of San Francisco" and in the movies with Robert Redford in "The Candidate." While he considers himself "a garage-band singer," he performed lead vocals for KB's Midlifecrisis, a local Milwaukee band. He teamed with Lawrence Taylor to host FX's "Toughman series" and served on Fox Sports Net's trivia show "Sports Geniuses." And he even announced football games for the XFL ... for one day. MLB.com caught up with Vasgersian recently to discuss several topics, including movies, music and the XFL.
MLB.com: You have appeared on TV and in the movies. What is your all-time favorite TV show and movie?
Matt Vasgersian: I have to go with two TV shows, a combination of "The White Shadow" and "Saturday Night Live." "Saturday Night Live" is just a cultural institution in my world. And I just thought "The White Shadow" was such a well-executed sports drama, something that's really hard to pull off. The chemistry within the cast was great. It was believable; you could believe that all those guys not only played high school basketball, but also were real kids with real problems. And "SNL," despite its few bad years in the immediate years following the first cast, is something I watch every week.
As for my favorite movie, I have two. "Spartacus" because it's just such a great spectacle. It's like I'm watching it for the first time every time I see it. There's never been a better hero than Kirk Douglas as Spartacus. And "Animal House" -- there's never been a better hero than Tim Matheson.
MLB.com: You were the host of "Sports Geniuses." Who are some of the brightest athletes you've run into in sports?
Vasgersian: The Milwaukee Brewers' shortstop, Mark Loretta (who graduated from Northwestern with a business degree in 1993), is a real bright guy. He has an understanding of things inside and outside of the world of sports. From my "Sports Geniuses" days I was impressed with Jerome Bettis because he had such an infectious smile and he just seemed like a real happy, bright guy. Darrel Evans is another bright guy. He was the organizational hitting coach with the Cubs my first year doing play-by-play in the minors. He seemed to have such good philosophies on hitting. He always stood out in my mind as being one of the smarter baseball players out there.
MLB.com: You broadcast the XFL for one day and were dropped by Vince McMahon because he didn't think you were "selling" the sport enough. Will you continue to list the XFL on your resume?
Vasgersian: The XFL was something I'm glad I went through. It was one of the most frustrating things I've ever been through, looking back at it. I thought that their philosophy was just wrong. The people at NBC put their faith in Vince McMahon, and in this instance it did not pay off. Until I do something that reflects even poorer on my career, yes, I will keep it on my resume because I wear it like a badge of dishonor.
MLB.com: You said you consider yourself "a garage-band singer," but you did play for the KB's Midliefcrisis band in Milwaukee. What were some of the titles of their top hits?
Vasgersian: It was all cover stuff that I did. KB himself was the front guy and I would come out and do certain material. I did one headlight by The Wallflowers. I did "3 a.m." and "Real World" by Matchbox 20. Some of the things that I would have loved to have tackled as a vocalist aren't what you call bar-friendly, good-time friendly stuff. This band did a lot of cool rock numbers. There aren't too many garage cover bands that do "Funeral for a Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding" and "Pretzel Logic" by Steely Dan, and they were among the songs that these guys did.
MLB.com: What is your favorite book?
Vasgersian: I don't read a lot of fiction. I only read non-fiction. I guess I would say I have a favorite writer right now and he's Joe Queenan. He's so bitter, such a pessimist; he's such a cynic. He might just be the funniest cynic that I've ever encountered from a writer's standpoint. I just finished his newest one, which is called "Balsamic Dreams." It is a ringing indictment on the self-importance of the Baby Boomer culture. Really funny stuff. This guy is one of those brilliant, sick, angry minds that makes you laugh.
MLB.com: Considering all the eclectic jobs listed on your resume, tell us something that people would be surprised to know about you.
Vasgersian: People might be surprised to hear that I am as conservative as I am. When you appear on the air as though you have a different perspective and you're not one of the "sportscaster culture traditionalists" ... I never went to Ronnie Radio School. I don't go on the air everyday with my Lindsey Nelson plaid sports coat. I try not to use the phony radio voice and I try to approach the job differently. By virtue of that, some people may think that I'm some whacked-out socialist or more liberal-living side. But I'm a very conservative guy, even though I don't come off this way. I think I'm stuck in the soul of about a 57-year-old guy right now.
MLB.com: Padres GM Kevin Towers and Manager Bruce Bochy both ride motorcycles. What is the most extreme thing that you have done?
Vasgersian: I once was sitting around with some buddies and was watching the movie "Cool Hand Luke" and I tried to see how many eggs I could eat. I think Paul Newman ate 50 as Luke and I got to seven or eight before I got on something else.
MLB.com: What is your favorite sports call?
Vasgersian: Some of my favorite sports radio isn't live play-by-play. There was a guy that worked in Los Angeles who was my broadcasting idol by the name of Jim Healy. He did a format for years on KMPC radio in Los Angeles and before that on different stations. It was a half-hour format and he would go through the news stories of the day and with a brilliant catalog of recorded tapes. He would use these tapes as though they were characters that were in the studio with him. He'd do a story on Tommy Lasorda and start by saying in this very campy, character voice: "Dateline: Los Angeles. Tommy Lasorda is at it again." And he would quickly fire off a tape that was generally Lasorda misspeaking, yelling at somebody, or some other unflattering piece of tape that usually didn't make the evening sportscast. The guy was absolutely brilliant with his use of the "third wall." He had a cult following and I was right there in the middle of that cult.
MLB.com: You've played in rock 'n' roll bands. If you could pick your own band members, who would they be?
Vasgersian: I would probably want Keith Moon of The Who on drums. I would want Fleagle from the Hair Bear Bunch. I want Keith Richards, certainly, playing guitar. I think I'd want Bruce Springsteen there writing the material. I'd want Steve Drooper playing rhythm guitar, Booker T. Jones playing the keyboard and I'd probably want to prop Jewel out there doing vocals along with me, so I could look at her.
Sandy Burgin covers the Padres for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://www.mets.mlb.com/sd/photo/news/ph_news_vasgersianm_288x235.jpg
Vasgersian's interesting career has taken him all over the place -- even to the XFL.
News
2/4/2002 9:00 am ET
Batting Around with Padres broadcaster Matt Vasgersian
By Sandy Burgin
MLB.com
Matt Vasgersian is the new TV voice of the Padres, coming to San Diego after broadcasting the Milwaukee Brewers for five years. The 34-year-old California native, who graduated from USC, brings with him a very interesting resume. As a child, he appeared on TV with Karl Malden and Michael Douglas in "The Streets of San Francisco" and in the movies with Robert Redford in "The Candidate." While he considers himself "a garage-band singer," he performed lead vocals for KB's Midlifecrisis, a local Milwaukee band. He teamed with Lawrence Taylor to host FX's "Toughman series" and served on Fox Sports Net's trivia show "Sports Geniuses." And he even announced football games for the XFL ... for one day. MLB.com caught up with Vasgersian recently to discuss several topics, including movies, music and the XFL.
MLB.com: You have appeared on TV and in the movies. What is your all-time favorite TV show and movie?
Matt Vasgersian: I have to go with two TV shows, a combination of "The White Shadow" and "Saturday Night Live." "Saturday Night Live" is just a cultural institution in my world. And I just thought "The White Shadow" was such a well-executed sports drama, something that's really hard to pull off. The chemistry within the cast was great. It was believable; you could believe that all those guys not only played high school basketball, but also were real kids with real problems. And "SNL," despite its few bad years in the immediate years following the first cast, is something I watch every week.
As for my favorite movie, I have two. "Spartacus" because it's just such a great spectacle. It's like I'm watching it for the first time every time I see it. There's never been a better hero than Kirk Douglas as Spartacus. And "Animal House" -- there's never been a better hero than Tim Matheson.
MLB.com: You were the host of "Sports Geniuses." Who are some of the brightest athletes you've run into in sports?
Vasgersian: The Milwaukee Brewers' shortstop, Mark Loretta (who graduated from Northwestern with a business degree in 1993), is a real bright guy. He has an understanding of things inside and outside of the world of sports. From my "Sports Geniuses" days I was impressed with Jerome Bettis because he had such an infectious smile and he just seemed like a real happy, bright guy. Darrel Evans is another bright guy. He was the organizational hitting coach with the Cubs my first year doing play-by-play in the minors. He seemed to have such good philosophies on hitting. He always stood out in my mind as being one of the smarter baseball players out there.
MLB.com: You broadcast the XFL for one day and were dropped by Vince McMahon because he didn't think you were "selling" the sport enough. Will you continue to list the XFL on your resume?
Vasgersian: The XFL was something I'm glad I went through. It was one of the most frustrating things I've ever been through, looking back at it. I thought that their philosophy was just wrong. The people at NBC put their faith in Vince McMahon, and in this instance it did not pay off. Until I do something that reflects even poorer on my career, yes, I will keep it on my resume because I wear it like a badge of dishonor.
MLB.com: You said you consider yourself "a garage-band singer," but you did play for the KB's Midliefcrisis band in Milwaukee. What were some of the titles of their top hits?
Vasgersian: It was all cover stuff that I did. KB himself was the front guy and I would come out and do certain material. I did one headlight by The Wallflowers. I did "3 a.m." and "Real World" by Matchbox 20. Some of the things that I would have loved to have tackled as a vocalist aren't what you call bar-friendly, good-time friendly stuff. This band did a lot of cool rock numbers. There aren't too many garage cover bands that do "Funeral for a Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding" and "Pretzel Logic" by Steely Dan, and they were among the songs that these guys did.
MLB.com: What is your favorite book?
Vasgersian: I don't read a lot of fiction. I only read non-fiction. I guess I would say I have a favorite writer right now and he's Joe Queenan. He's so bitter, such a pessimist; he's such a cynic. He might just be the funniest cynic that I've ever encountered from a writer's standpoint. I just finished his newest one, which is called "Balsamic Dreams." It is a ringing indictment on the self-importance of the Baby Boomer culture. Really funny stuff. This guy is one of those brilliant, sick, angry minds that makes you laugh.
MLB.com: Considering all the eclectic jobs listed on your resume, tell us something that people would be surprised to know about you.
Vasgersian: People might be surprised to hear that I am as conservative as I am. When you appear on the air as though you have a different perspective and you're not one of the "sportscaster culture traditionalists" ... I never went to Ronnie Radio School. I don't go on the air everyday with my Lindsey Nelson plaid sports coat. I try not to use the phony radio voice and I try to approach the job differently. By virtue of that, some people may think that I'm some whacked-out socialist or more liberal-living side. But I'm a very conservative guy, even though I don't come off this way. I think I'm stuck in the soul of about a 57-year-old guy right now.
MLB.com: Padres GM Kevin Towers and Manager Bruce Bochy both ride motorcycles. What is the most extreme thing that you have done?
Vasgersian: I once was sitting around with some buddies and was watching the movie "Cool Hand Luke" and I tried to see how many eggs I could eat. I think Paul Newman ate 50 as Luke and I got to seven or eight before I got on something else.
MLB.com: What is your favorite sports call?
Vasgersian: Some of my favorite sports radio isn't live play-by-play. There was a guy that worked in Los Angeles who was my broadcasting idol by the name of Jim Healy. He did a format for years on KMPC radio in Los Angeles and before that on different stations. It was a half-hour format and he would go through the news stories of the day and with a brilliant catalog of recorded tapes. He would use these tapes as though they were characters that were in the studio with him. He'd do a story on Tommy Lasorda and start by saying in this very campy, character voice: "Dateline: Los Angeles. Tommy Lasorda is at it again." And he would quickly fire off a tape that was generally Lasorda misspeaking, yelling at somebody, or some other unflattering piece of tape that usually didn't make the evening sportscast. The guy was absolutely brilliant with his use of the "third wall." He had a cult following and I was right there in the middle of that cult.
MLB.com: You've played in rock 'n' roll bands. If you could pick your own band members, who would they be?
Vasgersian: I would probably want Keith Moon of The Who on drums. I would want Fleagle from the Hair Bear Bunch. I want Keith Richards, certainly, playing guitar. I think I'd want Bruce Springsteen there writing the material. I'd want Steve Drooper playing rhythm guitar, Booker T. Jones playing the keyboard and I'd probably want to prop Jewel out there doing vocals along with me, so I could look at her.
Sandy Burgin covers the Padres for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://www.mets.mlb.com/sd/photo/news/ph_news_vasgersianm_288x235.jpg
Vasgersian's interesting career has taken him all over the place -- even to the XFL.