Boston Strong (Language), The FCC and Sports

My four years at North Central College on the WONC staff taught me a lot about the world of broadcasting. On air shifts were the most important thing, of course, but there was an academic side to it, with readings weekly about different broadcast-related topics, and almost all of them had something to do with the FCC. Mostly, it was about things they could fine you for (read: don't do this at WONC, lest we get levied a heavy fine and the station has to shut down), and these things appeared on tests during my time there (I take responsibility for this my senior year, since I wrote the tests).

On the broadcasting side of things in terms of being on the air (with a good concentration in sports), there were probably three major lessons I learned.

1. "W" is pronounced "Double-You", and anyone who pronounces it differently will be promptly corrected. It's John Madormo's pet peeve (so that's probably where I picked it up) and it probably put you on his hit list.
2. Don't even speculate possible reasons for why a door in a press box slams shut on air. You will incur the wrath of Naperville North's "Press Box Mom". For the record, I wasn't the speculator, but I was there when it happened, and being both the Assistant Sports Director and the guy calling the Huskies' football game the following week (against Central, no less), I was put in the unenviable position of trying to clean up that mess with the Press Box Mom (which ultimately was resolved).
3. "If you wouldn't say it to your grandmother, don't say it on air." -"ancient" radio proverb, regarding the use of strong language in a broadcast setting.

It's that last one that has a lot of people buzzing after the Boston Red Sox game at Fenway yesterday.