B Smith's Second Sticks - Shawn Kopelakis

Sports is a reality show; heroes, villains, drama, intrigue, and a (usually) clear sense of winners and losers. Sports is also entertainment, with millions and billions of dollars in play. And the people who do the production work to televise these events are subject to the same turbulent seas that may ultimately affect their lives in challenging ways. B Smith's Second Sticks talks with Shawn Kopelakis, my former boss at Fox Sports Net for many years. Shawn has lived both sides of the production coin: a long-time staffer who finally was given the choice to stay in a tenuous situation at Fox with an obvious end game, or take the life raft offered. For the past 10 years, Shawn, like many of us in the non-scripted game, has lived with the ebb and flow of free-lance work, with predictably unpredictable results. His insights are valuable, as he's seen the production world from both perspectives. We take the time to reminisce about sharing the outfield and locker room following the Anaheim (now Los Angeles) Angels World Series win in '02, and speculate about the future, including that of a young kicker from the University of Florida, Shawn's alma mater (Gator Chomp!). I hope you enjoy this unique view of an industry that in many ways mirrors our own.

Show notes:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnkopelakis/

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