Ethan Hanson's sportscasting aspirations in the face of Asperger's movitaves us all

Ethan Hanson has a pretty good grasp on the things he identifies to be his strengths and weaknesses.

Having passion, resourcefulness, research ability and an understanding of sports history and culture is an impressive start for the 23-year-old from Chatsworth who plans to enter Cal State Northridge this fall and pursue a degree in sports broadcasting, as well as go after a teaching credential.

“Most of all, and I think the most important thing, is I’m always wanting to lea and try to do things to better my skills,” he says. “I feel as though you can take 100 broadcasters to a game and each person has a different and unique approach. Some things may work, some things may not. At the end of the day you have to be open enough to listen and lea from others who have comes before me.”

As far as what he feels a need to work on: “I tend to be a little too high energy at times, I would say. As professor of broadcasting at Fordham University Bob Ahrens would say to me, ‘Not everything is a Game 7.’”

He also acknowledges, as many do leaing this craft, having some stage fright, which can manifest into a stuttering issue. He copes with that by taking singing classes.

“By performing in front of other people, it makes me more at ease when I broadcast a game,” he says. “Plus, that’s actually another talent I have. I’ve been told by numerous artists I’m an above-average singer.”

When you eventually factor in that Hanson happens to live with Asperger’s Syndrome on the autism spectrum, strengths and weaknesses tend to be redefined. It speaks to both categories, and to neither. It’s an annoyance, and it’s what motivates him.

Ultimately, it’s another reason why anyone would want someone like Ethan Hanson to succeed.

Accessing the playing field

When Hanson was 3, doctors told his mother that he would never be able to function socially. An Asperger’s diagnosis focuses on difficulty with social interaction, repetitive speech, difficulty understanding nuances and lacking of eye contact.

“But that can be just a stereotype,” Hanson will say with a laugh. “Like, white men can’t jump.”

Hanson does admit that he’s guilty of all the above at some time or another. He doesn’t know how to ride a bike, he says, because it makes him nervous. Same with driving a car.

Yet, to cover games for the last few years while attending Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Hanson has mastered public transportation and Uber. He once took five busses to call a Brahams’ baseball playoff game in Cerritos this season. Hanson ended up doing nearly 100 athletic events for the site.

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Arriving early to an event starts with finding the right Wifi connections to link up with the school’s website. Because of Hanson, Pierce has a streaming audio system in place, one he created, just as he did when attending El Camino Real High.

Bob Lofrano, the Pierce athletic director for the last nine years, says Hanson has been up front about Aspergers “because he accepts it as part of him and doesn’t see it as a boundary. Nor should it be.”

Lofrano marveled at how Hanson would call a basketball or volleyball game at the Pierce College gym, going all the way up to the top of the bleachers to reach an old announcing booth that hadn’t been used since the days Denny Crum coached there.

“Ethan would always figure it out,” said Lofrano. “He’s not afraid. All he needed was to open the door for him and he had free run of the place. The athletic department offices have been like his second home on campus. Whatever help I’ve tried to give him, he’s always responded well and with respect.

“You want to pull for guys like him.”

Sam Farber, whose broadcasting career has included play-by-play on Inland Empire minor league baseball and Cal State Northridge sports, was at the Rams’ Oxnard camp recently collecting interviews for KNX news radio. He saw Hanson faced with an issue tying to get to the practice field to work on a story he was writing for the CaliSportsNews.com website.

In suit and tie, Hanson had come all that way to set up his interview, only to have the Rams explain their policy did not give access to websites.

“I had seen him out there before and could tell it was a frustrating thing for him,” said Farber. “He always acts professionally. I didn’t want to see him get discouraged over a miscommunication that we all lea about the hard way coming up in this business.”

At that point, Farber didn’t know of Hanson’s Asperger condition. Once told of it, he was more impressed.

“It’s great how sports can connect people and clear the lines for someone like Ethan,” said Farber. “If this is his dream, to work in sports, it’s a tribute to how hard he works at it. I don’t see him as someone who ‘can’t,’ no matter what the hurdle. This career is difficult enough because there are only so many jobs out there. But if you have the right work ethic, like Ethan does, it will always push you in the right direction.”

The road ahead

All through school, Hanson maneuvered without being placed in an Individualized Education Program (IEP), something his mother, Pam Hanson-Medina, did not want for him. He eventually enrolled in martial arts classes at age 13 to lea discipline and build confidence.

He has also been surrounded by sports for as long as he can remember – older sister, Lara, excelled in basketball and played at Fordham, and a younger brother, Josh Medina, is a junior baseball standout at Chatsworth High. Ethan says that it’s “probably the best thing for someone with Aspergers” because sports is a great equalizer and it feeds into his competitive nature.

“Plus, you’ve also got to develop a sense of humor,” he said. “You can’t get mad at everything.”

Recent time in New York living with his sister and doing sports marketing work at Fordham also expanded his view of the world. Lara has posted YouTube clips of her brother’s broadcasting work at Pierce.

Hanson was just 6 when he met the late Chick Hea at the Forum back in the late 1990s, where Hea was calling a WNBA Sparks game, but it was a moment Hanson pinpoints as when his desire to get into sportscasting started. He writes on his Tumblr.com biography that since meeting Hea, he was “able to find my voice and communicate with the world.”

The voice has led to him, as he notes on his Twitter account, doing a sports-talk show for KPCRadio.com, working as a social media director for the SoCal Valley Halos travel baseball team and doing some play-by-play for the Ventura County Fusion soccer team.

The former sports editor of the Pierce College Roundup newspaper has also been writing for the Daily News, Ventura County Star and Santa Clarita Signal.

While open about his Asperger’s, Hanson cares enough to not have it define him as he navigates the joualism world.

“Here’s the thing,” Hanson says. “People now ask me if I can mentor their children (who have Asperger’s.). The first thing I say to them: Everyone like me has strengths and weaknesses in life. I can memorize things on the fly, sometimes things very random. I am a fierce competitor – autism or not. There’s a dog in me.

“Also, I lose things all the time. I’m still waiting for a new ID because I fell asleep on a bus and lost it. My room is a mess. I’m unorganized.

“Maybe I’m a little bit weird. I dress a little bit bizarre. I raise my hand in class too much, maybe ask too many questions, change the subject, can be a little random. But I don’t want to make any excuses for any of that. It’s a jouey. I truly believe in this life that those who grind and go through tough times eventually get somewhere.

“I remember a quote I once read in a book: The seed that goes through a storm and blooms into a tree becomes much more sturdy than one raised in a perfect environment and doesn’t know how to deal with adversity.”

More media notes at www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth

MEASURING MEDIA MOMENTUM

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• If this Justin Tuer-Yasmani Grandal dugout episode during Thursday night’s Dodgers-Brewers game at Dodger Stadium becomes a major marking point in the 2016 season, it’s unfortunate to some degree that SportsNet LA’s comprehensive coverage did not capture it on video, nor did Vin Scully mention it happening on that telecast. It was not addressed on the SNLA broadcast Thursday until the post-game show when the few media members who saw it and tweeted it out, including the SCNG’s J.P. Hoostra, brought it up in manager Dave Roberts’ press conference. As for conspiracy theorists who surmise the Dodgers somehow nixed its owned-channel from showing something that could have put the team in an unflattering light, SNLA sources say they simply didn’t see it happen between innings review or else they would have shown the video. The Brewers’ TV feed did not have it, either, nor did any photographers present.