The 'Boom Goes The Dynamite' Kid Is Now A Real Reporter, .. Later he gets the rebound. Passes it to the man. Shoots it. And boom goes the dynamite." It sounds like a SportsCenter sound bite, but those lines were uttered in March 2005 by aspiring reporter Brian Collins during a "Newslink@9" broadcast – Ball State University's student-run newscast.
It sounds like a SportsCenter sound bite, but those lines were uttered in March 2005 by aspiring reporter Brian Collins during a "Newslink@9" broadcast – Ball State University's student-run newscast.
It was Collins' first time doing any kind of on-camera work, and he decided to emulate ESPN's catchphrase-style of newscasting. While Collins struggled mightily during his first ever broadcast, he has become a viral celebrity for his "Boom Goes The Dynamite" one-liner.
Let's go over the events that led to the viral sensation known as "Boom Goes The Dynamite":
Brian Collins was shooting video for Newslink@9 when he found out the regular sports anchor was sick. A college news broadcast would seemingly make for great practice in getting to read the news on-camera; so, the 19-year old freshman saw this as a good opportunity to kick start his young career.
He went home, changed into on-camera attire, and got ready for his first ever newscast.
Like other first-time on-air personalities, it takes a few seconds for Collins to realize he's on-camera. Someone gives him a signal to tell him they're live, and he greets the audience with a friendly "hello everyone."
Right off the bat, Collins does a fine job at reading the news for a first-timer, but fourteen seconds into the segment, Collins stumbles and doesn't quite pick himself back up.
This video best depicts what happened to Collins.
It's the nightmare of any news anchor – a teleprompter malfunction. The person working the teleprompter was also new to the job and scrolled through the script at too fast of a pace for Collins to read.
He did have a copy of the script right in his hands, but the pages were out of order – a classic rookie mistake.
At the 22 second mark you hear Collins say "oh no," and the next three minutes would leave the college newsroom speechless. At one point, Collins even mouths the words "I'm so sorry."
Joe Thomas, the meteorologist of the same newscast, told Ball State Daily News that, "We all just kind of were stunned to be honest... No one really knew what to say. We all felt really bad for what happened."
Brian Collins thought he could just leave it behind and let time heal all wounds. Unfortunately for him, someone from the Newslink@9 show took the clip and uploaded it onto eBaum's World on April 1, 2005.
The video caught fire and became the most painful, but hilarious 3-minutes to spend on the Internet.
Just like Ghyslain Raza ("Star Wars Kid"), Brian Collins was upset that the video was being circulated around the web for the world to see. However, after speaking to several Ball State faculty members, Collins learned to move past the incident.
Then came a call from a Ball State alumnus – David Letterman.In June 2005, Brian Collins made an appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman." Letterman helped Brian make light of the situation by showing the "Boom Goes The Dynamite" phrase used in mainstream media.
In the same week, Collins got another call to appear on a CBS show – "The Early Show." He explained to anchor Hannah Storm the origins of the "Boom Goes The Dynamite" catchphrase.
"One thing that we do is we have Mario Kart tournaments... And along with that we try to create things that'll kind of mess each other up... part of that is you create catchphrases. And obviously, 'Boom Goes The Dynamite' was one of mine."
In the same interview, Collins also said that he would get phone calls and hate mail because of the video, but he's also glad to have gone through the experience as a way of learning from your mistakes.
He even got an email from ESPN SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt saying, "If this is the worst thing that ever happens to you, life will be good."
"Boom Goes The Dynamite" is now a popular catchphrase that has become more than just a viral video.
So, what's Brian Collins up to these days?
After graduating in May 2008 with a degree in telecommunications, Collins worked at a PetSmart while looking for work at various news outlets around the U.S.
He eventually landed an interview with ABC affiliate KXXV in Waco, Texas. Some people in the newsroom didn't like the idea of hiring a notable viral star, but management decided to give Brian Collins a chance.
He stayed on for about a year as a reporter with KXXV before being let go for budgetary reasons. His beat at the station were crime and city issues.
Today, Brian Collins remains in Waco, Texas and is known as the Waco City Buzz Examiner on Examiner.com – a hyperlocal news website with contributions from citizen journalists.
It's impressive enough that Brian Collins could move past his on-camera gaffe, but for him to actually become a professional broadcast reporter speaks volumes about his ambition.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
The 'Boom Goes The Dynamite' Kid Is Now A Real Reporter
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