WILMINGTON, North Carolina – I am pretty sure anyone who is reading this blog has heard of the term “other duties as assigned” and chances are you’ve used it at work at least once.
For some people, it might mean going to get the boss’ coffee or make copies. For some people, it might mean something entirely different. In my case, it means filling in as a play-by-play broadcaster for athletic events on the Seahawk Digital Network (SDN) at UNCW.
Now before you take a big gasp of air and ask me if I was/am crazy for doing something like getting in front of a camera and calling a sporting event live, let me tell you this – it’s in my background and is partly responsible for my start in college athletics.
Let’s go back in time for a moment – I was a senior at Towson University getting ready to graduate and I had been helping out at Loyola College (now Loyola University Maryland) with game-day stats and other functions. In the spring of 2005, there was a women’s lacrosse game against Stanford where they needed someone to call the game for their internet radio broadcast.
So, since I had been doing some public address announcing for them, I was offered the opportunity to call the game. You’re probably asking the question of whether I had ever called a game before. Unless you count the Sportscasting class I took two years earlier at Towson University, the answer is no.
But, I wasn’t about to let that get in my way. I did all of the prep work, called the game and ended up working at Loyola on a full-time basis for a year after I graduated. You can ask Marty Kelly about my prep for those women’s basketball and lacrosse games during that year – I made sure to share my charts with him from time to time haha.
So, let’s fast forward in time to the present, shall we?
Every so often, I get asked to handle play-by-play duties for our streaming events. My first broadcast at UNCW was calling the UNCW-Elon women’s basketball game in the 2015 CAA Tournament at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. Fortunately, it was only an audio stream.
Since then, I have called women’s basketball, softball and volleyball games on SDN and/or FloHoops. Each sport requires its own preparation and depending on how much notice I get, I can be ready to call a game in a couple of days (unless you are forced to fill in a couple of hours ahead of time, which has happened).
This season, I called three women’s basketball games, including two against my alma mater. I was fortunate to have enough advance time to build charts and develop information to use. In my mind, the more time I use to prepare, the better the broadcast.
I have also been given the opportunity to call a women’s basketball game inside Carmichael Arena on the University of North Carolina campus. If you are a college basketball fan, you know the history of that building and it’s certainly a cool experience.
Since starting my broadcasting journey, I have used many different charts. Just like my game notes, I can’t seem to get a consistent file that I like and this year was no different.
I decided I wanted to use my iPad more and not have so much paper around me – makes for a cleaner area at the broadcast location and it keeps me from fumbling paper. So, with the help of Seattle Mariners broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith, I developed a spotting chart that I could easily use in GoodNotes on my iPad and away I went.
I feel like once I got back into a rhythm, it was like riding a bike – I felt more comfortable. And once I reminded myself that we have video to help tell the story, it was even easier since I didn’t have to say much.
As you can see from the highlights below, things worked themselves out over time. In fact, I received a very nice email from an administrator at Towson on my efforts, including my ability to say the name of the school properly, knowing the team and where the school is located.
In my response, I made sure to note that I better have known all of that information. After all, I have a degree hanging in my office that says I graduated from Towson in 2005. If I didn’t know it, that might be problematic.
People have asked me if I ever thought about getting into broadcasting for a career. The thought did cross my mind from time to time, but let’s be honest – I have a face for radio and there are too many broadcasters out there who are better than me.
But, every once in a while, it’s nice to get back in the play-by-play chair and handle those “other duties as assigned.” Especially when you can call a home run in softball … Hawk Yeah! Home Run!
Until next time, take care of yourself and each other … and remember to wear a mask!
From the Eyes of an SID 