24

 

I announced via a tweet today that I will almost certainly be back for my 24th season of high school football -- and my 25th overall as a sports play-by-play broadcaster -- beginning in late August or early September.

My first foray into football was as the guy in the studio. That led me to opening doors at WGCH that took me to winter sports before I got my first play-by-play chance, calling baseball on April 10, 1999. Football came along that fall.

The details aren't 100% finalized for 2022 but given the chat I had with a key person today, it should all come together quickly.

There's one more piece to the puzzle to work out but, once that's done, it's very likely that basically every Friday and Saturday will be spoken for from just after Labor Day until Thanksgiving.

There are still details, such as a lead analyst. Of course, yes, I fully expect Chris Erway to be along for most of the games. Still, there is the detail of how many games. Chris and I agreed that we would stay together if a team (or teams) wants us.

But there will be a few times where Chris can't make it and there's most likely a day where I will have a conflict. That day will include me stepping off a plane, coming home for a few hours, then going to one game. I'll be unable to get to the other game that day. I'll have to deal with that.

So, while I'm being vague, I guess I can let some of the basics leak: I'm back and, I suspect, we'll both be back.

I'll add that there were a few groups that reached out to me about calling their games. Maybe you can figure them out and maybe you can't. I was really pleased to be asked and would love to find a way to work with everyone but high school football isn't that forgiving. Generally, it's Friday. Saturday. Or nothing.

What I'm saying will become clearer when I'm able to release a schedule. I got verification today on one thing and the other is basically 75% good. There are still things to tidy up.

There was a brief moment when I considered ripping it all up and trying something else. I thought about an FCIAC Game of the Week and/or a Section 1 (New York) Game of the Week.

Still, at least for now, I'm a radio/audio guy, so that meant anything on my own would have to be on Robcasting without video. To some -- and this thrilled me for the Babe Ruth tourney -- that was enough. To others, it's not. I remember trying to add a Facebook video element just by including a cell phone feed along with the radio play-by-play. Of course, we got complaints. That was enough. Ungrateful people couldn't stay quiet. I ended it. 

But I have thought about video, especially with a videographer for a son.

As I've said so many times, the chemistry of a booth is so important. Chris and I work because we get each other. He knows my cadence and I know his. We're also very good friends and that helps. We rarely step on the other when talking because we know how annoying that is to you, the listener.

We know when to have fun and entertain you. We know when to tighten up and let the game drive the bus.

Rare times that one might have jumped the others' call have been met with a look of shock, an off-the-air apology, and laughter. 

Not everyone can say that. I was being told about a championship game tonight where the analyst jumped the play-by-play in a pivotal moment. The first time that happens, it's on the analyst. After that, the play-by-play announcer deserves a large share of the blame for not shutting it down.

When I would join Sean Ford at Dutchess Stadium, it was his booth. He'd give me plenty of room. He trusted me. But he was the man. The play-by-play is the lead, especially in places like high school sports where most likely the play-by-play is also the producer of the broadcast.

A good lead announcer knows how to make the call and get out of the way. The crowd can then dictate the moment before the analyst can drive him their point. It's a dance but, with proper footwork, it can be flawless.

I think about how Chris and I called the key moment in the 2015 FCIAC Championship Game in Stamford. Timmy Graham of Stamford rolled to his right and lobbed a pass to the back of the end zone. Hudson Hamill "climbed the ladder" to make the catch for a touchdown. I called it with some zest, amping myself up pretty high. Chris maintained that energy after initially letting the crowd noise roar. He then brilliantly broke it down.

The camera work and direction of our HAN Network colleagues added to that play.

It remains one of our finest moments.

I'm blessed -- and I've said this so many times -- to be able to have that kind of relationship with a number of great people who have joined me in the booth. They understood how it worked. I'm proud of myself to adjust to styles, whether it's Chris, whom I've known for basically 16 years now (what?!) or Ian Nicholas, who was basically thrown onto a Brunswick football game with me. Still, he's a professional and it worked well.

Even the times I brought in "non-pros" they still got it and, with practice, became professional in their own way. I immediately think of the times Harold joined me. He got it.

On the other hand, just walking away from the booth and handing the keys to any old person is a dangerous thing to do. There has to be a leader in the booth; a professional. This person must know how to open and close a broadcast, get to and from certain moments (such as the end of the inning, quarter, period, etc), and know to remain a professional at all times, adhering to basic stuff like language, description, and a certain modicum of not being a complete homer.

And give the score. A lot.

Oh, and don't say "we." Please. Don't.

The thing is, there's this idea that I'm this big meanie who hates this and that and doesn't like any other announcer. It's frankly not true. I've loved teaching people this business (and will be doing so again this week). I don't like people who think they're bigger than this business or who are complete narcissists. I don't like people who disrespect the business either.

I want to hear stories. Not stats, screaming, and nonsense. Not monotone either.

I actually want people to succeed. But I also want people to succeed who have earned it.

It should be a joy. An honor. It shouldn't be a circus or a bunch of over-the-top bon mots. It is, at the end of the day, still a reporting job (aka "journalism) so accuracy absolutely matters and exaggeration is tiring.

It will come as no surprise what teams I'm (likely) going to be broadcasting and I hope you join us for the ride. I look forward to making it all official.

Then begins the gathering of the rosters and getting to know the faces and families and securing space at games and having the proper equipment and transportation and wishing we had done it all better.

But we'll try. Just as I did in those nascent days of 1999. I can still see that raw, nervous guy -- still a kid in some ways -- walking to the booth at Fox Lane High School for that first call on WVIP (1310 AM).

Just days after signing off from baseball, fall begins to come into focus.

There's work to be done.