It's possible that you've never heard of Brian Mikolajek, but if you've ever watched a Milwaukee sports broadcast on TV, then you are familiar with his work.

Mikolajek is the associate producer and graphics coordinator for Brewers and Bucks games, as well as several other teams, and he's the guy keeping viewers up to date with the visual elements that complement the play-by-play broadcasters who call the games. It's an occasionally grueling job, with long hours behind the scenes and in the TV truck. But as Mikolajek, who started out working for beer money will attest, it's beats working behind a desk.

We caught up with Mikolajek recently in the home dugout at Miller Park before a Brewers game. Here's his story in this latest Milwaukee Talks.

OMC: What do you do for Milwaukee sports TV broadcasts?

Mikolajek: My official title is associate producer. I work directly with the producer in coming up with story lines. I back up the information on the broadcasts with visuals and graphics.

OMC: Do you work every Brewers game?

BM: I work all home and road games for the Brewers, Bucks and Badgers hockey and women's basketball. I do high school football state championships, too.

OMC: Are you employed by Fox Sports?

BM: No, I'm technically a freelancer, but all my eggs are in one basket.

OMC: How long have you been working in TV?

BM: I started doing this for beer money in college. It turned into a career. I've been traveling with the teams full-time since 2001.

OMC: Specifically, what work of yours might we see during a broadcast?

BM: I'll come up with trivia questions, for example. So if today is "Roberto Clemente Day," I come up something on that. I'll go to my producer to get video to back up the graphics. Same thing with Craig Biggio in the 3,000 hit club. I'll ask for video of Robin Yount or Paul Molitor to back up what I'm coming up with graphically. I don't work too much on the video side, though. I guess that would be the next position up.

OMC: How has technology changed your job?

BM: It's so Internet-driven these days. I remember one of the first games I worked in college and not having Internet access in the TV trucks. We used to rely so heavily on the PR staffs and press notes they'd put out. Now I barely read that stuff. I have my own Web sites that I go to. I have my own stats database. There's more information out there. Even with our live stuff, we almost don't type up information because it's all there.

 Page 1 of 2 (view all on one page)

Next >>

1 comment about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...