Let the voice be heard

FirstEnergy Park -- Lakewood, NJ (Lou Russo, 94.3 The Point)

I come not to criticize. No, seriously.

I'll screw it up and offend someone. I hope not.

I'm glad -- like, so happy -- that most high school sports are back in business.

I'm happy that many games are being carried on live streams.

I'm dismayed -- very -- that so many of these streams don't have a play-by-play announcer on them.

Let me further that point (here's where I'll offend someone). I'm very dismayed that true broadcasters --- those who have busted their butts practicing their craft -- aren't calling these games.

Now, don't jump to conclusions. This isn't about me (I mean, sure, but we'll get to that).

What I mean by that is I've heard the wannabes. 

I'm not knocking student broadcasters either. They need to start somewhere. They need to...well...be bad. They also -- bluntly -- need to learn to handle the scrutiny and criticism that comes with the gig, but that lands squarely in "just a kid" land and I'm not going on that roller coaster.

They need to be told that being accurate matters and told when they screw up.

(Oh is that a completely different post...one that I won't be writing)

As for me, sure, I want to call games and have had conversations with a few schools/coaches. I'm grateful for the interest.

I've offered to even call games off a monitor here at home.

I'm here if anyone wants to talk about putting my skills to use. And, yes, it's actually a skill.

Given I'm doing so much work from home, I'd be content to flip my setup to do sports after a long day. But, personally, I'm fine. I hope for some games later on, but I'm looking forward to a lot of baseball*.

*Put a pin in that.

Many of the best streams are hard to see. It's difficult to tell what's going on. It's up to us -- those who know what we're doing -- to narrate and fill in the blanks. We keep things moving along.

Someone recently approached me at Brunswick. "We did a couple of games without an announcer back in November," they said. "It's just so much better with you on it. The coaches, athletes, and fans all love it."

Bingo.

Maybe you know that NBC once tried an announcerless broadcast on an NFL game. It didn't go well, so what makes anyone think this is the way to go?

Play-by-play is a skill. I used to think anyone could do it. More than ever, that's the very problem. Everyone thinks they can do it and many have the resources. That's a dangerous and slippery slope.

But these games could use voices. 

They deserve them.

*****

Back to lots of baseball. The Minor League schedules came out today. If all goes according to plan (weather, COVID, whatever else) the Hudson Valley Renegades will play their first game in 606 days on May 4 in Lakewood, NJ.

The Gades will play the newly-rechristened Jersey Shore BlueClaws at FirstEnergy Park.

Assuming I'm only calling home games, I'd still like to be sitting there that night. I truly -- and can't say this enough -- believe that Opening Night should be carried live, even if I don't stay for the road trip.

Oh, to be clear, the traditional shorter regular-season series is gone for 2021. Every series is a six-game stand. So the Gades will play in Lakewood from May 4-9. Every Monday is an off day.

I could either make the two-hour drive and come back after the game (I've done it before for games in Aberdeen, Troy, and Oneonta) or I could treat myself to a room, I suppose. A quick glance shows some reasonably priced rooms.

There are also road trips to Brooklyn, Wilmington, Aberdeen, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem. Me being me, I'd like to go to all of them but would also be happy with road trips to each one once (or more).

Market it as "Rob's Sunday Road Game." Get it sponsored. Make it worth it. I've worked in marketing, after all!

Those critical of the new MLB/MiLB and criticizing the High A East can come down off their ledge now. They did, overall, control travel, which was the goal from the outset. That's why there will be six-game series. Also, if you noticed, most of the southern leg of High A East won't get a visit from Hudson Valley.

Therefore, there will be no trip to Greenville or Hickory or Asheville or Bowling Green or Rome. Honestly, I get it and it makes sense but I'm bummed. I wanted to see all of it. I wanted to go to "Little Fenway" in Greenville and historic McCormick Field in Asheville.

It would have meant big road trips and new states and exciting things to visit but it's not meant to be, at least for now.

Again, me being me, I love the thought of calling games in many different states.

Besides, honestly, given MLB's desire to milk Yankees/Red Sox for all it is, how do you not have Hudson Valley (Yankees) and Greenville (Red Sox) playing each other? So it goes, I guess.

I talked with Brooklyn Cyclones "voice" Keith Raad via Twitter today to exchange notes and told him I'd like to arrange a Zoom meeting (suitable for broadcast -- rain delay material) with all of the High A East broadcasters eventually. But, as we both figured out, some jobs still seem open or undecided.

But Hudson Valley's job is taken. Now the work begins on sculpting the broadcast. Now I can get down to talking to those that I want to join me for a game or more. Plus I can figure out which games I'd like to "Scully" (that is, call alone). Now we can begin to fill in all of the blanks leading up to May 4th in Lakewood and May 11 at Dutchess Stadium.

These broadcasts are going to sound good. I'll tell you that.

Keith Raad said I'll see him in Hudson Valley when the Gades host the Cyclones. I hope to visit the "Catbird Seat" at MCU Park a lot as well.

There's a site called Broadcaster411 that lists the announcers for each team. It hasn't been updated for 2021 but I'm looking forward to seeing that famous top hat baseball logo with "Yankees" in script in it next to my name. I hope the new Baseball America directory has my name listed as the broadcaster for Hudson Valley. I hope to see my name on the team website. These are the little selfish things that come with not taking this opportunity for granted.

There's much to figure out but we're so much closer.

Only 75 days to go.