MILTON - The Canadian women’s hockey team had just fallen to the U.S. in a gold-medal shootout at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, and a nation was gripped in heartbreak.
For Rod McLachlan, however, disappointment would have to wait.
Tasked with putting together a lengthy recap with sound-up commentary from the play-by-play team set to music, the Milton CBC producer and his editor set to work with furious focus.
With the package airing prior to the team’s post-game interview with Scott Russell, the time-crunch adrenaline was palpable.
“It was so tight to deadline that we didn’t get a chance to watch it from start to finish before it was sent for playback,” he recalled. “We watched it for the first time on air live on national TV, and that was both terrifying and exhilarating when it did arrive on time and was a good quality piece with no errors.”
With eight Olympics under his belt, McLachlan is all-too-familiar with that type of controlled chaos – and admits the ‘nervous energy’ is slowly creeping in as the Paris Games draw near.
And that’s not necessarily bad.
“I definitely want to get it right, be a great teammate to my technical and production crews, and support the commentators in telling the best story we can for our Canadian athletes,” he said of tackling what he called the ‘crown jewel’ of assignments for any sports journalist.
Now in his 18th year with CBC and 10th with Sportsnet, McLachlan has faced just about any “situational curve ball” the world of sports broadcasting can throw.
Responsible for a myriad of tasks – everything from going over the day’s script to aiding with research and figuring out the correct pronunciation of athlete names – the local producer will be primarily focused on swimming and diving events this time around.
In addition to live coverage, he’ll help create the recap package for the evening prime time show and work with partner networks and CBC Radio on preview reports and highlights.
At the risk of stating the obvious, some long days are ahead for the CBC Olympics team – with 16 to 17-hour shifts not uncommon.
That’s when those little newsroom moral boosters become especially beneficial.
“One long-standing tradition is to decorate the doors of each sports edit suite with cliches and memes focused on the sport produced in that room,” said McLachlan, who along with his Olympic experience has covered the Stanley Cup playoffs, FIFA World Cups and numerous other world and national championships. “Those comical pictures and quotes are a fun way to keep the mood light and the energy up. About 10 years ago we even had someone bring in a bongo drum to help create a laugh and keep us going.”
While admitting the time-zone difference with recent Olympics has been a challenge to round-the-clock coverage for nearly three weeks, McLachlan said there’s no excuses when it comes to attention to detail and overall storytelling.
“These athletes only get these opportunities usually once or twice in their lifetimes, and that makes it so precious and an honour to tell their stories.”
McLachlan said he’s been blessed to work with such gifted hosts as Russell, Ron MacLean, Steve Armitage and Andi Petrillo, but has drawn just as much insight and inspiration from the people behind the camera.
“There’s such a tremendous dedication to getting the story right, focusing on the little details and putting in that extra effort to sweeten the final product,” said the lifelong sports fan and vice president of the Milton Sports Hall of Fame, who like two-thirds of the CBC Olympics team won’t be heading overseas. “I always tried to show them respect and listen to them so I could learn each step in the process, even if I wasn’t the one pushing the buttons in their role.”
Since his “minor role’ Olympics debut in 2008, McLachlan and his colleagues have undergone major changes in terms of broadcasting apparatus and delivery, with – admittedly – a few hiccups along the way.
But that pales in comparison to the shift in news consumption brought on by the rise of streaming giants like Apple, Netflix and Amazon.
“Will all or most of the sports coverage migrate to those services and how quickly will it happen?,” questioned McLachlan. “Up until now, live sports have been somewhat immune to cord-cutting in the cable industry because everyone wants to consume sports as it happens, unlike news and entertainment. And I think broadcasters are rising to the challenge with free apps like CBC Gem.”
As McLachlan’s Olympics experience grows, so too does his admiration for CBC’s hosts.
“They might have the toughest gig in that they need to be experts in every sport, while not getting bogged down in technical jargon when welcoming in a general audience that might have never seen a particular sport or might not follow it on a regular basis,” he said.
For McLachlan, the biggest Olympic takeaways haven’t always been about the sports themselves.
He vividly recalls MacLean’s abrupt departure from the 2008 Beijing Games after the passing of his mother.
“It became apparent to me these people covering the Olympics were tremendously dedicated to their craft, to their jobs, but when push really came to shove, family always had to come first.
“And while that is a struggle at times for everyone in the industry, it’s something you have to work towards, because without the support of my wife (Rhonda) and our kids, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love. They make a lot of sacrifices to allow me to work these long evenings and weekends.”
The key to great Olympic coverage, McLachlan noted, is really no secret. Without that behind-the-scenes look at an athlete’s struggles and overall journey, their accomplishments simply don’t mean as much.
“Sometimes that ‘why’ is the best part of the story. And if we do our job and we take you there – to China, to Brazil, to South Korea, and this time France – you should be able to learn a little about that country’s culture, its people and what makes it tick.”