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Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Yes, welcome to the biz communication Show. I’m your host Bill Lambton, the biz communication guy, hosting a conversation with a business communication expert. And today I’m delighted to introduce to our show, Bill Hartman Bill Hartman began his Atlanta television career. And June 1970, replacing NFL football star Bill Curry as the 11pm sports anchor on wa GA TV in Atlanta. Bill had graduated from the University of Georgia just two days before Hey, how’s that for a quick professional start? Bill Hartman went into the Air Force and following March and returned to wa GA in 1974. He went across town to W SBTV and 1996 and retired from there and 2008 after 35 years as a TV, sports reporter and anchor. But even in retirement, he wasn’t finished. For another nother 13 years he hosted Fox fives high school football game of the week coverage on Friday nights before at last calling it quits at age 73. His career spans six decades. He’s been at all the big events and I do mean all of them. But Bill Hartman says covering high school football is the most rewarding of them all. He has won five Emmys. The first one coming in 1978. He and his wife Glee, live near Athens, Georgia, his hometown. So join me in welcoming Bill Hartman. Hello, Bill. Hey, Bill, how you doing? It’s great to have you on our video portion. And on the podcast as well. I had followed you, as many many people had done on television for those 35 years. And now it’s a privilege to have a conversation with you person to person. Bill. I know and I mentioned your sports background. Growing up your father Bill Hartman was the captain of the 1937 Georgia football Bulldogs. He was the first football player drafted by the professional football league. And I’m wondering with that athletic atmosphere that you grew up in is is that what sort of guided you steered you towards a career as a TV sportscaster?
Bill Hartman
Absolutely, I’ve been around football and athletics all my life even when I was just, you know, a little baby two or three years old and used to go to football practice. And he was the backfield coach at Georgia, from 1939 to 1956. So, as a toddler, I was on the practice field, I really enjoyed being around that that environment. And so I wanted to be the quarterback of Athens High School. But there was another guy in front of me who was much better and the same age a guy named Paul Gilbert, a good friend of mine lives up in Gainesville. And so I decided I wasn’t going to be the guy. So I was going to write about the guy. And that’s what I did. And that’s that’s how I got started in it. Just wanted to be around it wanted that to be my life. It had been my life up until age 16. So I wanted to continue it in writing about it. Then later on talking about it was how I did that.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
And it’s interesting. You mentioned Paul Gilbert from Gainesville, which is Gainesville, Georgia is my home base. That’s where I operate my business from and where I live. I saw Paul Gilbert make one of the great comebacks and Georgia football history. I remember. We were playing South Carolina. This must have been in the early 1970s When I was on the faculty there No you
Bill Hartman
got to back up that was in 1969 prostrate
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
69 Okay, that’s the year I started there. And you probably remember the game Georgia was trailing. I believe it was 21 to three And the starting quarterback, Mike Kevin got injured. So Paul Gilbert came in. And I don’t remember the exact final score, but it was something to the effect of Georgia 52 or three and South Carolina 34. Would that be about
Bill Hartman
right? Yeah, that’s about right. And Paul was named the Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week. For that performance. Paul was going to be the starting quarterback. He blew out his knee his sophomore year and bought, you know, once that happens, especially back then when knee injury was much more serious than it is today. He fell behind Mike and Mike Kevin was got in there and was a great quarterback. So Paul was now number two.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
And now it’s I’m saying probably 250 Georgia football games that won six out of my mind. And of course, the 1971 game between Auburn and Georgia that gave Pat Solomon the Heisman trophy. I remember that went quite well, too.
Bill Hartman
Yeah, that was, that was something I was in the Air Force, then out at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, and watch that game on television. That was quite something. And yeah, I think Solomon won the Heisman trophy that day.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Let’s get now to your your television career. Many of us who watch television, have considered it a rather mobile profession. We’ve seen anchors, we’ve seen whether people we’ve seen sports casters, who were there, maybe one or two or three or five years, and then they kept progressing to a larger market. Now, in your case, you started a large market. As I remember, at the time you started, the Atlanta television area was ranked about number 12 in the nation and soon became number 11. And yet, even though you started at the top, is so rare for a television personality to stay in the same place for that long. How did that happen? Bill? What how do you account for that?
Bill Hartman
Well, I’m from here, and you’re right. I was very fortunate to be able to start in Atlanta, not most people finishing it when I was starting in Atlanta, and I had no desire to go anywhere else. I mean, I was the number one guy and then I’d be the number two guy and and then the number one guy and you know, rather than get mad and and put my tape out there and go to Dallas or wherever. I was pretty happy to stay in Atlanta. Big Bulldog fan. My family, of course, was huge Georgia people and so well, they weren’t huge Georgia people. They were people who are huge fans of Georgia. But, so I had no desire life was pretty good. And I just I must have done something right because I’ve stayed around for a lot of years.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
I noticed just this week that that Richard Belcher had been an Atlanta television for 51 years and I have a friend and Columbia, South Carolina, Joe Penner, I knew Joe when I lived in Columbia, South Carolina, Joe had 5053 years I believe it who is television and Columbia, South Carolina, those are rare it is and it speaks greatly. Bill to your the quality of your service that as technology changed as audience preferences changed audience needs. You grew up with it. And that’s that’s the secret to it. There’s no doubt about it.
Bill Hartman
And I was me. I was what you saw on television was the person I was out on the street. If I were to say hello to you, you came up and talk to him. And so I was just me, I wouldn’t. I wasn’t trying to be Warren or wolf in New York City or any of the other well known local television, sports casters in the big cities. I was just trying to be me and enjoy doing it. And I think that came through.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
It did come through and one of the attributes I read about you on the internet. One of your colleagues said that the the bill Hartman that you see on the air is the bill Hartman that you would have coffee with later. It reminds me of something I think we’ll introduce both you and our viewers and our podcast listeners. I often watch Larry King Live. And I remember I can’t remember who the guest It was but I remember the guest asking Larry King, Larry, you have interviewed so many celebrities. What are they really? Like? off camera? What What? What would they be like if we had that cup of coffee with them? His answer really struck me His answer was the ones who are really quality people at the top are great to everybody. He said, It’s the wannabes who have an air about them? And and you really don’t want to be around them. I thought it was a very good answer.
Bill Hartman
Yeah, yeah. And, you know, another thing Larry King did, I think I’m remembering this correctly, is he did not research. The person he was about to interview, he found out things as you the listener found out about those things. At the same time, I’m sure he did some basic research, he had to know who the guy was, or the woman was he was talking to, but he found out about them as the viewer did. And I to a degree, I did that. But in sports, you know, the stats, and you know what they want and that kind of thing. And so when you talk to him, you have a pretty good idea of who this person is and where the interview might go.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
You remind me there and I’m I imagine being a television professional. You’ve heard this that Johnny Carson would not even say hello to his guests before they came out from the greenroom because he wanted everything to be spontaneous. And in fact, during commercials, he wouldn’t chat with him. He wanted every comment to be absolutely in the moment. And I would say he was fairly successful with that.
Bill Hartman
Yeah, absolutely. I’ve had people through the years I’d be I was going to interview him. And they’d say, what are you going to ask me? And I’d say, Well, I’m gonna have to wait and find out when we turned the camera on.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
And that stripped them up a little bit of it probably made them more alert,
Bill Hartman
you get a better answer, the first answer you get the better answer.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Yes. Bill Hartman. We’ll be back in a minute after this business information with some more fascinating conversation. Do you wish
Michael Stewart
you felt confident about giving speeches? Do you want to deal with difficult people constructively? And what about becoming more persuasive and sales, then keep listening now to Dr. Bill Lampton, he spent 20 years in management, so he knows the communication skills you need for success? I urge you to call the biz communication guy today for a no call, but very valuable. 30 minute discussion about your communication challenges. Call now. 678-316-4300. Again, that’s 678-316-4300.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Bill, I’m sure that there are athletes who are going to be interviewed at the high school level, maybe even earlier than that, at the college level, professional level, you’ve interviewed 1000s of athletes, if I were an athlete, which I’m not, but if I were an athlete, and I came to you and I said Mr. Hartman, I really need some advice about how to react and what to say, when I’m being interviewed on television. What would you tell them bill?
Bill Hartman
You know, enough hurt athletes. go both ways on this. First of all, smile, act like you’re happy to be there on camera, and, and be yourself. Don’t give me the cliche or telling me what the coach said to say when you’re on television. Answer the question truthfully. And if you don’t know the answer, don’t try to fake and smile. I mean, people like to see people smiling on camera, don’t don’t Don’t be the down in the dumps, guy when that camera turns on, smile, be yourself, be happy to be there. Those are the things I would tell somebody to be
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
very, very good pointers. All of us Bill Hartman and know the the emotional power of sports broadcasting. And I want to get very personal here with you. Because there’s a there’s an incredible story of what you call your greatest production. You have Emmy Awards. But in our conversations prior to going into this interview, you told me that your greatest production as far as the media was at your father’s grave side, if you will, please explain that too.
Bill Hartman
And I hope I can not get too emotional on this. So my father was a was about to die back in 2006. And he was days away from dying. And I woke up one morning with the idea that I would get someone to do a play by play rendition of a couple of his greatest plays as a college football player in Georgia. And then, at the gravesite, I would have this played on the speaker system of Sanford Stadium, which was just across the way we were in no Coney Hills Cemetery, and I knew that we’d be able to hear the speaker system from Sanford stadium. So I called my friend Lauren Smith, and Claude Felton and told them about this idea and they went straight to Larry Munson. The great Larry Munson who recorded a couple of Danny’s greatest plays. One was the 93 yard touchdown, kickoff touchdown run against Georgia Tech and the other was a record setting 82 yard punt against two lane back in 1937. So very few people knew about this and what was about to happen. As we left the Methodist Church, there were a couple of people chucked out who worked with me at Channel Two, he came up and said, Well, I’ve got to go back to Atlanta. And I said, No, don’t go yet. You got to go to the graveside service. So we all get to Oconee Hill Cemetery. The preacher knew about it. Bill Britt of the Methodist church, my wife Glee, knew about it. My two sisters on each side of me had no idea of what was about to happen. So we’re sitting there the grave site, my father has not been lowered down into the grave yet. And by the way, he was wearing a Georgia Letterman’s jacket in that casket very soon. So Bill, Brett says. And if you can, if you listen, you can hear what Bill’s life what his career was like. And with that, somebody hit the button back in the Sanford stadium, PA system. And Munson came on, say an RT get the picture Hartman stand to their own his own goal line against Georgia Tech. And then he calls the plays as he runs for the 93 yard touchdown. And, and I do get emotional, just talking about it. People stood up at the gravesite and started clapping. And people were yelling and screaming. And it was a great moment. And then he did the 82 yard punt against to lane and it was quite quite something and only about four or five people knew it was going to happen.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
It had to be an overwhelming emotional experience. And I when I read recently, what you just mentioned about your father’s 82 yard punt. I was at a Georgia game earlier this year, where there was a 75 yard punt and that that was amazing. I 82 yards. And especially in those days your father’s days of playing. kickers didn’t do that.
Bill Hartman
No, they didn’t. And he told me and I guess I believe him. He said it was against the wind and went out on the fly. Years later, a man named Spike Jones kicked an 87 yard punt for Georgia that became the new record. But I was there and I was sitting next to my father when it happened. And it hit after about 50 yards in the air and tumbled and turned and finally was down. At seven yards later daddy said mine went out on the fly.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Amazing, amazing,
Bill Hartman
but I haven’t been able to corroborate that.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Bill. The the point that I’ve seen in reading about your career, and I mentioned it in the introduction. After 35 years on television and Atlanta. You worked with Fox five in high school sports. From what I’ve read, you’ve said those are some of your greatest sports thrills give us a couple of reasons why that’s the case, please. Oh,
Bill Hartman
absolutely. Absolutely. First of all, While I’m on the sidelines with my cameraman, a guy named Blaine come at who just as a fantastic shooter. And so we’re staying in there and some 16 year old kid catches a touchdown pass, excuse me, he jumps up and he’s smile is this wide. And he’s just so happy and emotional at that time and comes usually right into the camera. And we do this fox five in your face thing, and runs by us. And that kid is probably going to remember that moment. For the rest of his life. I mean, I’m 74 years old, and I can remember throwing a touchdown pass on the junior varsity team. But it might be the most important and emotional athletic part of his life ever. And then you look into stance and the mother and the father, and they’re just overjoyed with what they’ve just seen their child do. And you don’t get that in college, you get, you get happy people in college. But it’s not, it does not have the emotional attachment that doing that same play in high school has. And then when you get to the pros, I mean, we’re talking about guys making $10 million. And, yeah, it’s a good, they’re glad they caught that touchdown pass. And they’re glad they’re team one. But it’s not the same as a kid that it’s taken algebra 101 as a 10th grader in high school, and his friends sitting beside him and knowing and it’s just such a pure, pure emotional moment for him. And so that’s one reason I like it. Now, the other reason bill is that the high school coaches will allow you to do just about anything you want to and part of what I did. Covering the High School game of the week was, I’d be on the field at let’s say, 655. The game starts at 730. I’m right there in the middle of the final parts of warmups for these teams. And the coaches are allowing us to be live right there with them. close and personal, right? Yeah, yeah. I can say hey, number 12. Over there is Johnny Jones. He’s the quarterback and Blaine a walk over there on live television and stick that camera in his face. Can’t do that. In college. You can’t do that in the pros, in the coaches will bend over backwards to help you.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Well, well explained. And you’re so right I can I as I said, I started playing golf at age 13. I probably wouldn’t remember some of the early good rounds that I played not when I was 13. But later on. I was fortunate to play on my high school and college golf teams, you didn’t have to score as well as you do now. But I can remember some of those days with with greater relish, then I would remember when I shot a year ago.
Bill Hartman
Bill Absolutely. And by the way, 50 yard touchdown pass out through which to a guy named Sandy Williams, against Gainesville, up in Gainesville and city park there. Sandy went on to become the dean of Duke Medical School. I went on to read scores on Saturday night.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
Well, you both did what you were intended to do. And you both had great careers and a lot of fun.
Bill Hartman
We did. Bill, thank
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
you so much for this opportunity to host you on the biz communication show. And as you think back over your career and the impact of television, on sports and all the people you’ve met, and so on and the people you’ve interviewed. Is there any one highlight or any one way you’d like to sum it up?
Bill Hartman
You know, I’ve always wanted to know things before other people knew them. That’s that’s a hard thing to explain. But I was in Tokyo in 1990, when the announcement was made that Atlanta would host the 1996 Olympics, and to be there in person and interview all the principals who were there from Atlanta about that it just what a thrill that was it just was a thrill to be able to be on the inside in those situations. So that’s it, you know, it’s a rush to know something before other people do and then be able to tell people about it.
Bill Lampton Ph.D.
And you did it remarkably well. Thank you so much for your time. Hartman for being with us on the biz communication show. Thanks to those of you who joined us on video are the podcast be with us again for the next edition of the biz communication show when again we have a tremendous guest and I invite you in the meantime to check my YouTube channel. It’s go to the search bar type in my YouTube ID which is Bill Lampton PhD. You’ll find this interview there many other interviews from the biz communication show and also some solo instructions that I give. So be sure when you go to that YouTube channel Bill Lampton PhD, be sure to hit the the subscribe button, and then my website, I go by the tag the biz communication guy. So logically, my website is biz bi Z biz communication. guy.com Check my services for corporations and leaders. Give me a call. And we can talk about your communication challenges and problems and find a way that I can assist you with them. My number 6783164 300 Again, 6783164 300. Many thanks again to Bill Hartman, a great guy and a great television sportscaster. Thanks to all of you. See you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
