The Opinionated Optimist

“I made a mental list of all the things I can’t do: I can’t walk, I can’t write with a pencil, I can’t clean myself, and I can’t swim or play baseball. Then I made a list of all the ways Heavenly Father has compensated for all the things I can’t do…,” said Hans Smith a student studying communications.

Hans Smith is fulfilling his dream of broadcasting sports as a radio host. One day about two years ago, Smith decided to type in “start own radio show” on www.google.com. The first hit was a site called Blog Talk Radio. It’s a free program allows people to set up and cast their own radio shows. The program is all internet based, functioning just like a normal station with phone lines and web windows for listeners to participate.

Smith anticipates the growth of internet radio blogging with companies such as ABC, ESPN, and NBC taking hold of the new trend. “It’s not a sorry excuse for radio. I think it’s the new face of radio. It functions completely as any other [radio] talk show would,” Smith said.

Cerebral Palsy has affected Smith since he was born and for twenty two years, he has been confined to a wheelchair. The list that Smith made to counteract all of his deficits helps him see the bright side of things. “I can’t walk, but I have a wheelchair that goes10 mph, 3x times faster than the average human can walk. I can’t swim, but the Lord invented life jackets. I can’t play baseball, but I have my PlayStation 3; I love it. I can’t write, so I can’t compete well in college classes. But now they’ve developed software, and it writes when I speak to it [computer],” Smith said.

Smith and his co-host, Zach Anderson, a student studying Communications, spend Friday evenings discussing and debating baseball. They appropriately call themselves the Opinionated Optimists. Smith said, “It goes from 8-9 pm mountain time every Friday. We cover all of major league baseball…we find articles off of www.mlb.com, or other places and we analyze and discuss what’s going on in the world of baseball for that week. We discuss controversial news, argue why so-and-so was suspended; was it valid?”

Being a broadcast major with prior experience on the air, Zach Anderson enjoys working with Smith and sees the benefits from their encounter last semester. “I’m here for a purpose, to be friends with Hans for this time period. I’m here to help him fulfill his dream, and he’s here to help me achieve my goal of broadcasting,” Anderson said.

Blog Talk Radio has recently set up a money incentive for successful radio casts. The Advertising Revenue Program rewards successful shows with space for advertisements on their site. Part of the money from ads will go to the main site, Blog Talk Radio, and the other portion will go to the hosts of the show like Anderson’s and Smith’s.

In order to get people to tune in, the men handed out 1000 flyers to all the off-campus men’s apartments for their upcoming show. Smith said, “Monday when I walked into class, the first thing someone said to me was, ‘You did a really last Friday. It was very active.’” He continued, “I realized two things. One, I really knew what I was talking about. Two, we’re reaching our goal of being out there. I felt like screaming like a little girl because I was so happy,” Smith said.

Smith and Anderson hope that their show will draw listeners and evoke great discussion. “We definitely want to encourage people to listen. What makes it good is when people contribute in any way to the show. It induces debate/discussion, and better understanding of baseball for all of us. Our url is www.blogtalkradio.com/the_rain_delay,” Smith said.

Smith is drawn to radio because he gets to do what he loves as well as dissipate faulty notions. “Radio is just another example of how we could erase the stereotypes in our minds. We could get rid of that and realize even handicap people have something to say too,” Smith said. He feels he stereotypes people as well and that is another reason why he knows radio works best for him.

Anderson does not have physical ailments like Smith, but together they can communicate the same. Smith said, “One of the things I really enjoy is being able to work with someone who is not disabled on an equal level, and have him look at me at an equal level. We work together to prepare the show. Once on the air, we’re just two people who talk baseball.”