MEDIA BLITZ
By John Molori
Ray Gondola: a sports fan who feels what he cannot hear
If you are a sports media personality in Boston, chances are you’ve heard of Ray Gondola. Make that heard from Ray Gondola. The 47 year-old father of four regularly emails many Boston media types with opinions that are biting and direct.
Gondola is hearing impaired, but this has not tempered his love of sports nor his desire to state his views.
“The problem as I see it with sports media people is that they are all over the place,” says Gondola. “You cannot turn the dial without seeing Dan Shaughnessy, Bob Ryan, Ron Borges, Michael Felger, etc.
“Has their reading audience suffered as a result? I think so, but the worst problem of all is their arrogance and know-it-all behavior.”
Gondola has been hearing impaired since infancy. As a child, he attempted to mask the problem. “When they would administer the hearing test in grade school, there would be eight of us gathered around the machine.
“So as not to stand out and be different, I would raise my hand when the group raised its collective hands.”
Gondola has had numerous operations, yet remains completely deaf in both ears. A hearing aid helps him to identify some sounds.
“I have learned on my own to lip read,” he states. It’s funny though because when people know that their lips are being read, they tend to over-pronounce each word. For me, this is demeaning.”
Gondola’s ability to enjoy all forms of sports media is affected by his hearing impairment. He states, “I cannot go to the movies and I can’t watch TV unless the show is Closed Captioned (CC).
“Off the top of my head, Fox Sports Net’s “New England Sports Tonight” is not Closed Captioned. Neither is “Patriots Football Weekly” on WB56 nor “Patriots All Access” on Channel 5. It’s too bad because I’d love to hear what Bill Belichick is saying.
“On the national scene, the NFL Network is not Closed Captioned, but, believe it or not, the commercials are.”
Gondola says that he has relied on newspapers to get his sports fix since childhood. “I played a lot of sports with my friends. In 1968, I was bed ridden for a year and every day, my mother would buy me the Boston Globe and I would immediately turn to the sports page.
“Bobby Orr had a profound affect on me because he never basked in his glory. He was always one to put the team first. I have three Orr autographs but have never met him. If I did, all I would ever want to do would be to look in his eyes, shake his hand and thank him.”
Football is Gondola’s first love. He explains, “I usually tape the games with the CC on so that if anything of substance happened, I can go back to see what the announcers said.
“Watching a game on TV is better without sound anyway since you don’t have the announcer’s bias or influence on your own opinion. I don’t think I am missing much by only watching and not hearing.”
Gondola feels that improvements to television for the hearing impaired are limited. He states, “I don’t think there is much they can do other than making all of the programming Closed Captioned.
“As for live sports, when you go to a game, you are there to watch and feel. Listening is way down on the list.”
So who are some of Gondola’s favorite media personalities? “I enjoy Nick Cafardo, Michael Smith, Howard Bryant and Butch Stearns. I wish I could correspond with them.
“Sean McDonough has no peer. There are no better broadcasters than Sean and Jerry Remy. On Friday nights, I will turn on the CC just to hear them (on UPN38). As for the national media, I think Phil Simms is the best. Close behind are Joe Buck and Al Michaels.”
As an avid reader, sportswriters take the brunt of Gondola’s criticisms. “As far as I’m concerned, a sportswriter is nothing more than an English major who couldn’t make a team. Local coverage seems to be so cutthroat. The only thing that matters in Boston is being first with a story.”
Gondola cites Bill Griffith of the Boston Globe as one writer who consistently responds to his emails. His hearing impairment does not curtail his eloquence on a number of sports topics.
The Red Sox Curse- “The Sox are not cursed. Until the current owners came in, they were run by dopes.”
The Patriots- “I was a lover of this team since the early ‘60’s. The fact that writers like Will McDonough, Ron Borges and Kevin Mannix dumped on them so much made them even more lovable to me.”
Danny Ainge- “How can he be criticized (so soon) into his new job? Hold your opinion for a couple of drafts, at least.”
Manny Ramirez- “The biggest stiff in the world. He is a disgrace. He cannot field, throw, run or catch. The least he could do is run when he hits the ball. I hope Dan Duquette’s kids are in his will.”
Gondola has four children, Adam, Victoria, Colette and Danielle. He has been married to his wife Doreen for 23 years. He graduated from Suffolk University with a BSBA in finance, major in accounting. He and his family reside in Tewksbury, MA where he coaches youth sports and volunteers at his local church.
He loves sports and holds accountable those people who cover sports. Yes, Ray Gondola is hearing impaired, but make no mistake, he is definitely listening.
Vinny vanishes
Five-time former world champion Vinny Paz (49-10, 30 KOs) is scheduled to make his final appearance in the ring on March 27 versus Tocker Pudwill (39-5, 14 KOS) at Foxwoods Resort Casino.
The bout, promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports, will be shown live on Comcast CN8 at 8:00 p.m. Non-Comcast subscribers in Rhode Island and Connecticut can catch the bout on Cox3.
“This is it, one fight, and then I’m done,” says Paz. “We’ve been looking for an opponent for nearly two years. It’s a big fight, but I’ve been through it all. I’ve always been willing to lay it on the line every fight. My goal is to get my 50th win against Pudwill.”
Paz, the ex-WBA super middleweight and IBF lightweight champion, has not lost his ability to taunt an opponent.
He states, “(He’s) not tough enough to beat me. I never make predictions, but I don’t think (Pudwill is) going to last past three. I guarantee I’m going to get my 50 wins.” For more info on the bout, log onto www.cesboxing.com.
Blitz Bits
CN 8 has the Atlantic-10 men’s basketball quarterfinals, Thursday at 8:00 p.m. and the ECAC men’s hockey quarterfinals, Friday at 7:30 p.m. … HBO Boxing has “Sugar” Shane Mosley vs. Ronald White, Saturday at 9:30 p.m. … Fox Sports Net’s “Sunday Night Fights” returns Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Max Kellerman presents the first non-pay per view presentation of the welterweight championship bout between Corey Spinks and Ricardo Mayorga.
John Molori’s Media Blitz column is published in The Boston Metro, The Providence Journal, The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, The Lowell Sun, Patriots Football Weekly, BostonSportsMedia.com and MethuenOnline.com. John can be reached via E-mail at JOMOL3@aol.com.
