Another view: Dan Potash interviews Penguin, Max Talbot at Mellon Arena
If you are a fan of Penguins’ hockey or a fan with the Center Ice Package, you know Dan Potash, Anchor/Reporter for FSN Pittsburgh. Prior to coming to Pittsburgh in 2000, this native Californian covered sports in West Virginia and covered NASCAR while he worked at a TV station in Charleston, South Carolina.
He does the Penguins pre-game, post-game and in-game interviews with players and coaches, as well as bringing us special programs. The latest Potash production was the 30 minute special on the Penguins’ trip to Sweden where he also compiled Potash’s Postcards. Just prior to the start of this season, he sat down with Sidney Crosby for an “In My Own Words” special too.
Not only that, but Dan travels on the team charter and stays at the same hotel as the team. A dream job, you’re thinking? Well, at the very least a tough job with long hours.
Dan was nice enough to spend some time to give us a little insight into his world.
Last season, he and broadcaster and former Penguin, Phil Bourque, participated in a Hockey and Heels event with the Penguins.
“It worked out very nicely and was a lot of fun,” Dan said. “There was a group of about 30-40 women and they asked some really great questions.”
Back to female fans a little later….
As for a day in the life of Dan Potash, his routine varies a little depending on whether the Pens are at home or on the road. A typical home game schedule goes like this:
“I attend the morning skate like the rest of the media for both teams. That takes place about 10:30. After thirty minutes or so, we’re allowed into the locker room. By that point, I usually have an idea of my story for the game. Sometimes it’s from something that happens on the ice or some player that’s going really well or not going well, maybe an “x” and “o” type thing or a unique player profile that I feel would be of interest to our viewers.
I’ll go after that story and in the next hour, I gather whatever other tidbits of news I think are worthy for our pre-game show and then head back to the TV station. For the next couple of hours, I will write my story and have an editor put it together with whatever little pieces of the interviews I think would be best. I bring back other info – like lines for the night, who is a healthy scratch, who’s hurt, maybe something the coach said – and email that to the rest of the co-anchors so everyone is on the same page.
Around 4:00, I’ll head back to Mellon Arena and do my pre-game interview with Coach Therrien around 4:45. Next I have a couple of hours to myself to go over the game notes, which is a really thick stack of stats and bio information on players for both teams. An hour or so before face-off, I go out to the bench and when the players come out, I’ll do my on-the-bench interview, which we tape and the viewers see as the broadcast opens. I do the interviews between periods and post game too.”
On the road, things vary just a little. Because Dan doesn’t have a cameraman with him, he skips the morning skate. He does prep work instead. While the team is on the road, they fly back to Pittsburgh or on to their next destination after the game. So on a typical day of a game at home or away, Dan starts his work day around 10:00 a.m. and doesn’t end it until 11p.m. or midnight. Not quite as glamorous as you would think?
While the team visited Europe, Dan took a digital camera and took plenty of photos that he dubbed Potash’s Postcards. Because they were so far from home, he didn’t have the option of sending interviews back via satellite, so this was the next best thing. What did the players think when he began snapping photos?
“A couple of players kind of looked at me, like, ‘What are you doing now, Potash?’ but after I explained it to them, they were really cool with the idea. But I think they also knew that I would not cross that line and take pictures that were inappropriate, or in the wrong place or at the wrong time.”
After they came home, he passed out DVDs and CDs of more than 100 photos that he took and posted on a website to recap the trip.
“Because some didn’t bring a camera, I felt they would like to see everything we did. It was all based on trust, so since they were kind enough to let me take these pictures, I thought they should see them.”
With Dan, what you see if what you get. He sounds the same on the phone as he does on TV and he takes pride in the fact that he is the same person with fans and players. That is how he has earned the players’ trust and become a favorite with fans who rely on him to get the scoop to them.
“I love telling stories and I love sports, so to tell stories about sports is really what I love about my job,” he said.
What about those female fans? How does Dan get to know the new players on the team? What is it like to get a kiss on the cheek from big Georges Laraque at the end of an interview?
Find the answers to those questions and more in the next installment of A Man for All Seasons.
NOTE: Dan offered to talk with Hockey and High Heels again if those of you reading this have questions for him. I will compile them and he will answer. If you have a question for Dan about the team, or his job, or just hockey in general, send it to: texasjan@hotmail.com
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