A shoutout from Boston.com, and a fun anecdote about synchronicity
Believe in yourself. And maybe believe in the signs, too.
Last week, I wrote about WBZ’s newest sportscaster, my unique relationship with him, and why Boston sports fans need to pay attention:
Today on Boston.com, Mike Uva gets the Chad Finn treatment, with a nice profile from Boston’s preeminent media columnist (and one of its finest writers, period).
There’s two parts I want to call attention to.
First, there’s a shoutout to yours truly when talking about how Mike got his start in the business:
Uva made his positive impression while taking an unconventional route. He gained on-camera experience at Assumption hosting a sports show he created, but as graduation neared in 2013 he wasn’t sure what came next. He hadn’t caught a break. So he decided to create one.
“I remember this like it was yesterday,” he said. “I finished my final game at Assumption, and I happened to see a tweet from Brendan Hall, who covered high schools for ESPN Boston, that he was going to be on campus. I said, ‘All right, this guy’s going to be on campus, let’s go try to track him down.’ I kind of cornered him in the press box and just said, ‘Hey look, if there’s ever an opportunity, let me know.’ ”
They stayed in touch, and eventually Hall offered him the opportunity to string for ESPN Boston. “He was the first one that gave me a shot in front of the camera,” said Uva. “We broke down film, sort of like ‘The Belistrator.’ I’m forever grateful to him for giving me that chance.
“No one was really giving me the time of day. I didn’t go to a broadcasting school. I played football in college, so I never had time to do an internship. I kind of just taught myself and watched the guys like Steve Burton, the Bob Lobels, the Mike Lynches to Steve Buckleys. To be able to just get in front of that microphone with that ESPN logo on it really opened up doors for me.”
Second, I’ve never heard Mike tell this story before about a little memento he hid in WBZ’s studios the first time he visited. Think of the famous story about Doc Rivers hiding money in the Staples Center months before winning the NBA Finals:
Uva may be new to Ch. 4, but he’s been in the building before. Burton brought him by eight years ago for a visit and gave him a chance to read off the teleprompter. While there, Uva left himself a memento for future discovery.
“I actually put a card in the ceiling. I got the idea from the Celtics when they did that against the Lakers in the 2008 Finals. I put a $50 bill in it and I wrote a card and I said, ‘One day I’ll be back to get this.’ ”
So, have you recovered it? “Steve and I went back, we checked in the ceiling,” Uva said. “Unfortunately, we can’t get in the ceiling now. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know if someone took the money.
“But the day after Steve called me and I’m just like, ‘I need a sign. Like, is it time to go? I don’t know what to do.’ Not long after, I found $51 on the side of the street. I’m like, ‘Wow, maybe this is paying me back.’ That has to be a sign to go, right? I think it was.”
He laughs. “At the very least, I was able to get drinks with it that night.”
OK, I know I’ve written about the phenomenon of pareidolia, and how it can impair objective analysis. But I mean, come on, that is just a little too serendipitous not to think it was more than a happy accident.
And anyways, life’s more fun when you believe in that type of synchronicity. It makes for better stories.