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His Journey To Co-Anchoring The Top Rated Cable News
Morning Show, FOX & Friends, Began With Sports. In His Aptly Titled
New Book, Brian Explains Why The Games Do
Count. FOX News Channel’s
broadcasting remains so fresh and vibrant today that it hardly seems
possible the network signed on for the first time in 1996; just as
implausible is that the FOX & Friends aired barely a yearlater.
Since then, FNC has come to dominate the cable news sector and FOX &
Friends has become
Such stellar success didn’t come by accident. It took a tremendous amount of hard work and perseverance. But more importantly, it took heart. As FOX & Friends co-anchor Brian Kilmeade wrote in his upcoming first book, The Games Do Count, “…I’m in the game every day for three hours a day.” The conventional wisdom in journalism is to write about what you know. And anyone who knows me could tell you that I don’t know beans about sports. I simply never developed a taste for them. Still, I have often wondered if I had missed out on something wonderful; something that brought with it unexpected side benefits- like how learning to sing or play a musical instrument strengthens mathematical skills. After reading The Games Do Count, I can see that I did miss out on something wonderful. Beyond the camaraderie and the simple joy of play, I missed out on the opportunity to get a head start on learning how to succeed. The Games Do Count, is not really about sports; it is instead a book about life and the lessons athletics can teach us about reaching our highest potential. Kilmeade compiled 72 interviews with some of America’s most interesting people ranging from President George W. Bush and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice through major CEOs such as Jack Welch and Donald Trump; to entertainers such as Robin Williams, Kurt Russell and Jim Caviezel; journalists such as Joan Lunden and Bill O’Reilly; models such as Carol Alt and Emme; and politicians such as John Kerry, George Allen, and Dennis Hastert. The narratives can be funny and are often moving. They can also be cathartic. It is a book that, in my view, every parent, every teacher, and every coach should read- perhaps every young person, as well. In an exclusive interview with GCN, Brian Kilmeade explained why participation in athletics does matter: BK- “(It matters) Because of how it trains you for life- if you pay attention; and how you respond to the challenges in sports also shapes who you are when it comes to the real world.” The Value In Losing Jim Brown, in the forward to The Games Do Count, makes a point that too often people celebrate championship games but discount the rest of the season- what Brown calls “the less significant failures and victories.” Brown goes on to say that The Games Do Count “captures the beauty of the journey we undertake in sports, not just the outcome.” To that I would add sports fans discount the value of losing. Granted, sports by its nature are all about winners and winning, but losing may potentially have the greatest impact on a player’s future success. I asked Kilmeade how a player can use losing as a tool for future improvement? BK- “It’s simple; in life you lose, whether it be a job, an apartment, a potential girlfriend or boyfriend- at times you lose and only you decide how long it will take to recover. A sport gives you a dry run on the rigors of life and how you respond in the heat of competition. It will help you grow more then any parental talk, homework assignment, or Key Club meeting. “Bernie Mac lets you know- even when he was not the best player on his team- he always knew what it meant to be a great teammate. How he overcame his fear of being punched in the face by getting in the ring and actually taking a punch in the face. “Senator John McCain called himself a mediocre athlete but he also showed a huge heart and future greatness both in the ring and on the wrestling matt. When he was pummeled as a P.O.W. he felt like he could take the beating because of his season in sports. Need I say more? Losing hurts and if you are open to it, sports can always help.” Winning and losing is an integral part of the real world. As children grow up and leave the protective cocoon of school, they will have to compete and learn to deal with a lifetime of both success and failure. In his own Games chapter, Kilmeade speaks of his bitter disappointment on ending his eighteen year, near year-round, pursuit of soccer excellence. Brian left college so badly burned out that for a time he even hated the game. Adding to it all of this confusion and frustration, his father passed away. Brian explained it in the book this way, “In truth, I now know I needed to leave the game hungry, driven, in order to prepare for my career or real-life quest to be an All-American, Hall of Fame TV personality……. Of course I didn’t think that way back then. TV is as competitive and cut-throat as any business there is, and cutting my teeth in sports provided a great boot camp. Playing soccer gave me confidence….” Just exactly how did a pursuit of sports excellence prepare Brian for a major role in news broadcasting? BK- “Never in a million years did I think about folding up not going after a TV career with unmatched conviction. I knew I was a blue collar athlete with moderate athletic ability, but on stage and on-camera I felt like Pele- he would get the ball to win the game- in TV I thought I should be the one getting the ball. When other news stations did not see my potential or talent it rarely bothered me. Why? Because I had already dealt with disappointment with a passion (soccer) and I was determined to force a different outcome this time. So far, I have to say I feel like I am in the middle of a slow steady ascension.” Coaching Today, FOX & Friends towers over its morning cable news competition. However, this wasn’t always so. During the early days, the ratings for FOX & Friends were such that many inside FOX wanted to cut the pain and cancel the show altogether. However, FOX News Channel’s chairman, Roger Ailes, saw potential, not only in the show, but also in its three young anchors, Steve Doocey, E.D. Hill, and Brian Kilmeade. Ailes made the decision to continue FOX & Friends thus allowing additional time for the team to get their footing. To use a sports metaphor, Ailes, as head coach, believed in his players and so didn’t let them accept defeat. FOX & Friends
executive producer, Matt Singerman, might also be thought of as a front
line coach. While he will
MS: “I think the seminal moment for the show came during the election build-up and the election deadlock four years ago. Up until that point we did politics and what was going on in the news but we did a lot of funny & goofy stuff also. We were a sandwich with the bread and the extras but there was no meat. Once the election deadlock happened, that was the only story we did for the whole show for the next five weeks. “People just don't wake up at 7am, they wake up at 7:18, 7:43, 8:12, 8:40 and so on. (In 2000) The first thing people wanted to know when they woke up is do we have a new president? If they tuned to our show they knew they could find out immediately and not wait for an update on other networks. “The ratings went way up during the election deadlock and we have never looked back since with the realization that the news is the star of the show.” One interesting factoid highlighted in The Games Do Count is that in any given year, the best hitters in baseball fail to connect with the ball 60% of the time. Learning How To Win Brian’s describes himself in college soccer as a “good to okay player.” While he does say that he had his moments on the field, Brian points out that the reasons that he never became a great player was that he was too slow, too heavy on his feet, and never developed an intuitive sense of play. This very critical self-assessment would be impossible in the overly-protective cocoon that we have created today for so many of our young people. Happily, Brian did have the courage and fortitude to confront his weaknesses and that confrontation later became critical to his success in radio and television. He learned that pride gets in the way of greatness and that success did not come from merely working hard, but by also working smart. BK- “My Hope is that when people read this book they will recognize their story and grow from it. For me, I looked at the mistakes I had made in sports: Number one- not sizing up my weaknesses accurately; I was not fast and but I did not seek out a track coach; I needed superior ball skills but never sought a superior trainer or team to instill it in me. I focused on my assets instead of my negatives. Not good. “With TV, I truly attacked my weaknesses with pitch, dictions, NY accent, and memorization for those stand-ups in the field. I talked to everyone I could who had a job I aspired to- from David Letterman to Matt Lauer. So far, it’s worked out and I am proud of myself that I made a quality effort. “In looking back at my years in soccer, sports instilled confidence and the ability to handle rejection.” One On One As necessary as teamwork is to achieving success, in every player’s life there comes the time when they find themselves one-on-one with an opponent. While wrestling and boxing are certainly all about one-on-one, player-to-player exchanges in other sports provide the most memorable moments in any game’s play. As would be expected, The Games Do Matter has such recounts, such as the time actor- then boxer- Tony Danza ( TV series Taxi, Who’s the Boss) came back from a near technical knock-out to not only win the fight, but also win a shot at his first audition. Another memoir by Roger Ailes relates to when he was over at NBC, a friendly soft ball game between The Today Show and The Tomorrow Show resulted in a player being carried from the field.
Under pressure, Ailes had charged home plate so hard and fast the
resulting collision knocked the catcher out It is true that pain, both emotional and physical, is an integral part of competition. Ailes goes on to say that the quality of one’s participation in sports may reflect not only one’s personality, but also one’s character. To be a winner does not necessarily mean being the best. According to Ailes, winning may involve nothing more than dogged determination, saying in his chapter, “…just staying on your feet longer than everyone else allows you to win.” Rewind for a moment back to the time when many at the network wanted to end FOX & Friends. Ailes stayed true to his principles and didn’t allow FOX to simply give up and thus guarantee defeat. As Ailes also acknowledges in The Games Do Matter, “It’s true, people who win never quit.” Behind The Scenes At FOX & Friends In order to be on the air at 6 o’clock in the morning, Brian Kilmeade must awaken at 2:30 AM every Monday through Friday. During his limo ride to the FOX studios in New York City, Brian begins briefing himself on the day’s topics by reading no less than five major newspapers. FOX & Friends is not scripted. As Brian told me in another interview last year, “What we say to each other is all real.” And it is precisely this realness- perhaps better stated as honesty- that keeps viewers tuning in as they begin their day. Brian, Steve, and E.D. don’t talk down to the viewers, but as Matt Singerman explains it, come into the viewer’s home as friends, engaging them in lively debate. MS- “No one is better in talking about the days events in a conversational tone than the three of them. They know when to be serious, when to be irreverent, when to be tough, when to be soft, and when to be anything in between those elements.” Reporting Straight From The Heart Watching the same FOX anchors and reporters over the years, it may be easy for viewers to believe that they have almost gotten to know them personally. While on camera, many of them share little bits of themselves, such as their experiences in dating, or the difficulties they had in growing up. With some, you virtually watch them as they go through their life journey- courting, marrying, and having kids of their own. With Kilmeade, we know he is devoted to his wife, Dawn, and is a loving and involved father. Brian is also a skilled broadcaster who is both comfortable in front of a camera and in his role at FOX. Furthermore, Brian’s seems to keep his news-junkie celebrity status in check. In my experience with Brian, there has never been so much as a hint of superiority about him. That is probably what I like best about FOX. In my direct experience, no one, either on the air, or behind the scenes, has ever placed themselves high up on a pedestal. And in some sense, you really do get to know them. You get to trust them knowing that their comments truly do come straight from the heart. When speaking with Brian Kilmeade, I got the sense that he does have quite a competitive edge. At the same time he comes across as totally sincere. He is always talking with you, not at you. I cannot help but get the distinct notion that his attitude toward broadcasting is one of service, and not entitlement. Last December, he availed himself to me for a half-hour interview on the very day he finished his broadcast year. He could have simply bugged-out on a well deserved Christmas vacation. Instead, he delayed leaving so he could take my questions- not because it was important to him, but because the interview was important to me. As a final note, Brian honored me with the opportunity to be the first person outside of his immediate publishing team to review The Games Do Count. It is a fine read that one can plunge into most anywhere- beginning, middle, or even the end. It has personally helped me with placing some of my childhood in perspective and has given me some insights as to how I may improve myself as a communicator and teacher. My hunch is that The Games Do Count will help you, too. Brian Kilmeade’s The Games Do Count will be in stores October 12th. |
Brian
Kilmeade:
take no
credit for Steve, Ed’s or Brian’s talent, Matt did recount for me the
seminal moment when the FOX &Friends team did come together:
cold. At first, Ailes felt badly about the incident. Then later, when he
found out the player wasn’t badly hurt, he brushed it off as an acceptable
consequence to competition.