BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
As I get ready to write my second book, Lessons From The Microphone, Part Two, I use the Motor City Mad Mouth Show as my vehicle to seek the best interviews.
I’ve known this guy for three years, we’re friends on Facebook and we met at the National Sports Media Awards Weekend, in Winston Salem, NC.
He’s a Man of His Word and will now be in “Lessons From The Microphone” Part Two that will be released later in 2025.
His name is Steve Holman Sr. Steve is the radio voice of the Atlanta Hawks.
At the moment, I’m currently battling from the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, in addition to the fact that I have suffered four concussions in three years. I’m just on a mission to keep my 45 plus years in this business going and appreciate the run I’ve had!
Despite my head injuries, I was fired up to do our interview on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
I have a rule that I don’t disclose my medical issues to individuals because I keep those private and like to keep the focus on the task at hand.
You won’t find a nicer and down to earth individual to talk to than Holman Sr.
This guy is the Ironman of Broadcasting. I made a reference to Lou Gehrig.
He has broadcast 3,083 straight games and is going strong at age 71. This puts him only behind Chick Hearn, whose record stands at 3,338 consecutive games. I actually had the chance to meet Hearn when the Los Angeles Lakers faced the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals at the Pontiac Silverdome back in the 1980’s.
Hearn was able to continue broadcasting into his late 80’s. Holman Sr is on a pace to set a record that will never be broken.
If you haven’t heard much about him, it’s because the Atlanta Hawks have not been able to sustain success to get them in the NBA Playoffs. Also, Holman Sr enjoys being the local guy that thrives on being the trusted voice his fans want to hear.
He enjoys taking photos and signing autographs and he’s not seen on Nationally televised NBA Broadcasts.
There are lots of broadcasters from different sports that enjoy staying out of the spotlight light.
A few that come to mind are Eric Reid of the Miami Heat, George Blaha of the Detroit Pistons and the late Ernie Harwell, of the Detroit Tigers.
During our interview we talked about his longevity and how he got started.
Steve worked behind the scenes and had mentors like Johnny Most of the Boston Celtics and Curt Gowdy as his mentors.
Working behind the scenes is so valuable because you learn all facets of the business.
The full interview is in this story.
I told him that I had aspirations of being a play-by-play announcer as a kid and if the right opportunity came a long for me at 62, I would strongly consider it. That opportunity could be in minor league baseball in Florida or in college.
But no worries Steve, the only sport I would ever consider is baseball since I played the game for six years and have been covering it for over four decades.
When I lived in Phoenix, 25 years ago, and covered the Suns vs Pistons, I had aspirations of doing basketball. I interviewed Suns and National Broadcaster Gary Bender and wrote a story on him for the Detroit Monitor.
He sent me a copy of his book.
I was a fan when Gary Bender announced the 1982 Final Four in New Orleans at the Superdome when North Carolina defeated Georgetown, led by Michael Jordan. Dean Smith won his first title.
Patrick Ewing, Jordan and James Worthy had Hall of Fame Careers. Georgetown Coach John Thompson had a stellar career behind the bench. He eventually won a National Championship for the Hoyas.
Gary and I stayed in touch.
He eventually retired and moved to North Carolina and while none of this came to fruition, we always remained friends. He’s truly one of the greatest broadcasters of all time.
I will be writing columns for the IBWAA which stands for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, their newsletter called “Pitch.”
Steve said when I come to town, he’d be more than happy for me to sit alongside of him at courtside to allow me to shadow him while he does his job.
I’ll gain more memories watching him in action and perhaps, we’ll do a Motor City Mad Mouth Show from State Farm Arena providing my health holds up.
During our interview we talked about the current state of the Hawks and he gave young aspiring announcers pointers how to reach their dreams.
What makes Holman Sr so special is he didn’t have a family member that was in the business which meant he had to earn the opportunity by performing and make the rise up the ladder. This was talked about during our interview.
We also talked about how we both agree that to be a good broadcaster, it’s necessary to be a strong writer and he even taught me that TV Anchors get lost on the air if they don’t have their script.
This interview was about two radio guys just enjoying the opportunity to learn from each other while educating fans, plus aspiring media members, particularly announcers.
When I complete my second book, I plan to market them both together.
These days, I cover my fair share of events, appear on radio shows, I’m the Executive Producer and host for many podcasts, plus my passion is writing. I thrive on being the best Content Creator that I can and enjoy filling out the line-up card for my podcasts, in addition to doing interviews.
The content creation takes me back to my younger days in the media when I was a producer for WXYZ in Detroit for Sports Talk and wrote for the Detroit Monitor.
You had to start somewhere behind the scenes before getting on the air.
Being a content creator in these times is extremely exciting for me!
I’ve also expanded my reach beyond the sports arena and one of my favorite shows is 60 Minutes.
I’ve learned that in order to survive in the media, it’s necessary to be different. Don’t be a one trick pony.
I will not do a one-on-one interview unless it fits my criteria.
The individual has to be in the business for a great period of time and also must be able to tackle my tough direct questions.
More importantly, they have to be just nice people!
I’ve turned down many requests from individuals who wanted to come on these shows.
Our shows appear on numerous audio platforms including I-Heart Radio, Spotify and Apple. I post them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and they’re on The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel. The link is in this story so please subscribe to see all of our programming.
Moreover, when individuals come on my shows, they get the benefit of invaluable Google Exposure.
I’ve done thousands of interviews over my career. I’ll continue to be active until I can’t do them anymore. My doctors have increased my medications and are extremely proud of me due to my tenacity to keep active in the manners that I mentioned above.
Steve Holman Sr is a Blue-Collar individual in every sense of the word.
He goes to work every day and enjoys doing his job. I doubt if he thinks what he’s doing is a job.
Radio announcers don’t get the celebrity treatment that TV Announcers receive because they’re not in front of the camera. Until cameras and new media entered the picture, I enjoyed letting my deep voice do the work and let people wonder what I look like on the air.
When you network at National Events, you’ll meet some great people.
I’ve been fortunate that since November that I had broadcasting icon Kenny Albert and now Steve Holman Sr to come on the Motor City Mad Mouth Show since November.
I have plenty of other individuals which I’ll invite based on the criteria that I pointed out to you.
I know that you’re going to enjoy the interview with Steve because he’s a guy that’s paid his dues and doesn’t have an ego where he seeks the national limelight of having to leave for larger markets than Atlanta.
As I mentioned before, he’s a down to earth individual and exemplifies one of the things that I talk about in my book, relationships are what life is about.
Once we became friends and got to know each other, then the trust was built and, thus this interview was a regular conversation amongst two old school guys that speak the same language in our industry.
Steve Holman Sr is a Basketball Hall of Fame Announcer as well as a person!
I’m very fortunate and grateful to be your friend and now the whole world knows it!
But no worries Steve, you don’t have to mentor me in making a play-by-play comeback, I’m very comfortable doing what I’m doing and enjoy individuals such as yourself and many others tell their stories.
After all, that’s what guys like us do is tell stories.
This story and the interview was about letting the whole world know about Steve Holman and there is a broadcasting legend doing his thing in Georgia. I’m confident that we’ve accomplished that objective.
Happy Mothers Day!
Scott Morganroth can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, click the provided link and hit the red subscribe button.
Scott’s book Lessons From The Microphone can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle as well as Barnes & Noble. The audio book in on the way.
This book talks about Old School Media vs New School Media which everyone can learn from, especially students looking to get into the business.
He’s also the Publisher of the South Florida Tribune which also has a Broadcasting Division.
