Human Victory Cigar

Matt Dery is the Sports Director at WDFN 1130 AM, the Detroit Pistons’ flagship radio station. The 33 year old Pepper Pike Ohio native and Syracuse University graduate has been with WDFN for 10 years after working for WHK Radio in Cleveland.

Matt has been the radio voice of the University of Detroit Mercy Titans for the past 9 years and is a die-hard Cleveland Indians fan.

The first time I emailed Matt was during the opening round of the 2006 Playoffs. The Pistons were playing the Milwaukee Bucks and had just lost Game 3 on the road prompting me to fire off a frustrated email to what sounded like a sympathetic voice on my portable radio. Since that time, we’ve traded post game correspondence which lead to my request for an interview.

“The Diesel” accepted, answering questions about himself, his career and the Pistons.

You are the host for WDFN’s pregame, postgame and halftime Detroit Pistons’ segments. What is a typical routine for you on game day?

My routine is different for home games and road games.

Home games I will usually arrive two hours before broadcast. It depends on whether the pregame show is a half or full hour. I always get to my seat courtside for home games and grab my promo cards and reads first and separate them (pregame, halftime and postgame). Sometimes I talk to an assistant coach off-microphone to get an idea of what is going on with the team and try to talk with the other team’s TV or radio broadcaster to get a feel for the Pistons opponent.

I will eat the pregame meal in the press room and grab the game notes and newspaper clips which are available. I will sometimes go into the Pistons locker room when it opens an hour and a half before tipoff. I will then go to my seat and write my pregame open out, I have soundbytes ready for the producer back at WDFN, Brad Fortier, to fire during my open. Brad and I will talk about the rundown with Albert Dale, the #1 engineer in the NBA.

If John Hammond (Pistons Vice President of Basketball Operations) is running late, I will call his cell to remind him that we are close to our interview in segment 2 or segment 5 in the one hour shows. During the game I watch courtside, take notes and prepare for my halftime scoreboard, which is given to me by the Pistons public relations department. Postgame, I get the final box score and head up to Captain’s Quarters, the bar located on the east side of the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Road games I get to WDFN even earlier and make a bunch of calls and surf the web for info.

Do you accompany the team on the road for some broadcasts? If you do, is it all business or do you get a little time to look around the host city?

I have been on the road with the team and on the team plane. It is first class. The players are not all business all the time. Certainly the bus to the game is quiet.

I have been around some of the other cities. Orlando and Salt Lake City sucked.

What are Pistons practices like? Rasheed Wallace and Lindsey Hunter come across as very fun and playful to be around. Are there any other players that keep it light and humorous?

Pistons practices are very playful. Particularly at the end.

I have seen other teams that shoot free throws and then take 12 cabs home. Not this team. This is a good group with tons of contests, hazing and joking around.

How do you believe Detroit’s broadcast team rates versus the other local radio/televison personalities around the NBA? What do you think distinguishes this broadcast from the rest of the pack?

I think our broadcasts on radio are pretty good. I have heard some extremely good broadcasts with incredible resources, I have heard some that are really lazy and just a mail-in.

I like the fact that Director of Broadcasting Pete Skorich gives me freedom to be creative with what I do.

I think the Cavaliers broadcasts with Joe Tait are also tremendous and I enjoy watching MSG’s Knicks TV games with Mike Breen and Clyde Frazier and TV Host Al Trautwig. Very, very professional.

George Blaha and Greg Kelser are doing every local market TV game with Mark Champion and Rick Mahorn holding down the radio. What happened to Bill Laimbeer and do you think this will be a permanent lineup?

I don’t want to comment on Bill Laimbeer, because I have not seen him to ask him what happened. I would assume that this setup will remain for a while.

With the departure of Fred McLeod to Cleveland, the play-by-play opportunity window in Detroit opens just a bit. Are you prepared to step in if the call comes?

I have been prepared to step-in for years. I think I am ready to be the voice of a team, Pistons included, on radio. I talked to the organization about it, and they know of my interest. Mark Champion has been here longer than me.

Mark, George, Pete and the entire crew have treated me very well.

Syracuse University has a plethora of sports announcers working across the country right now. Guys like Mike Tirico, Dave O’Brien and Sean McDonoghue at ESPN, Marv Albert at TNT, Bob Costas at HBO / NBC. The list is ridiculously long when you add all the radio work. What makes Syracuse so good at producing top broadcasting talent?

Syracuse is a great place to cut your teeth in the business. A majority of us worked at WAER radio, one of the two student run stations at the school. At WAER we broadcast all the football, basketball and lacrosse games. You have to try out and make the staff in a year and a half as a “writer”. If you cannot write and perform a sportscast on air in that time, you can get cut, so it is competitive and similar to the real world.

WAER is the best job I’ve ever had, no joke.

What are your favorite internet resources for update news? Does each update reporter prepare their own content or is it a team project?

We use the AP wire. We also use mlive.com, espn.com and we are on the phone as well. The Detroit Lions send us a daily update and obviously we have our own staff reporters out there in the field. We all communicate with each other, but write our own updates.

What do you like to cover most when you’re not talking basketball?

I love being in baseball press boxes talking about the grand old game.

If you could have a 30 min interview with any player/coach/front office person in sports, who would it be?

I want to sit down and talk to (Red Wings and Tigers owner) Mike Illitch. Asking him real questions about how he ran his baseball team in the mid to late 90s.

The guys at WDFN seem like a lively bunch to be around. Do they have a healthy respect for the Cleveland Indians or did you “get the business” because the Tigers had a very successful year?

The guys I work with respect my love for the Tribe. I do get crap all the time, but it is cool.

Egos pretty much get checked at the door at WDFN, unlike at other stations in town which feature guys who knife fellow co-workers in the back or even spend their entire days trying to please a small fan base on blogs and message boards.

I would like to thank Matt Dery for taking the time from his busy schedule to answer these questions and the Pistonsforum.com staff for providing talking points and feedback throughout.