The Wildcat Adventure

Brunswick beat Williston-Northampton today in football, 21-14.

Chris Erway and I were on the call from the field in Easthampton, MA.

So ends one of the more contentious buildups to covering a game in roughly 25 years.

Many schools expected WGCH to show up when Greenwich came to town.

To most of the schools I've dealt with over the years, they understand that our broadcasts and other media coverage is just that: coverage. 

Promotion.

And those who do it right are there to promote the athletes. You know that's my goal.

But, the other thing is that I'm not just there to promote the team I cover. I'm there to cover both teams.

In a perfect world, I'm able to talk to players and coaches and load up on stories. Then I can tell the stories.

The world is not perfect.

One thing that Chris is learning is that press facilities are different in the prep school world. What we have at Brunswick is a blessing. We have a press box that has enough room for both of us.

You may recall from last year that Avon Old Farms -- a wonderful school with great athletic facilities -- didn't have room for a traveling broadcaster, so I worked in the raucous bleachers that night.

We were told Williston's booth wouldn't have room for us today and it reached the point where I questioned if we should even go. Ultimately, after a lot of conversations, Chris and I decided to throw caution to the wind.

Oh, it was a big risk, as we stood the chance of taking a road trip only to be told that we couldn't broadcast the game. Thus we prepared ourselves to 1) Stay and watch the game or 2) Do something else.

I also had 3) Find a place to set up and just do an audio broadcast.

Well, we didn't have much guidance upon getting to Massachusetts. Oh, the first people we spoke to -- in fact, some of the only people we spoke to -- couldn't have been nicer and guided us to a parking spot.

"We just wanted to make sure you belonged," they said, smiling.

We wondered if we belonged also but yes, we very much did.

So, thanks to traffic delays that dogged us all the way, I felt that we didn't have a lot of time to ponder our setup. I made a decision: we'd stay in the bleachers, among the fans.

That was our booth. Chris Erway is ready for his first Massachusetts broadcast

 

We set up. 

We called the game.

We never had a problem.

Fans seemed unfazed (and the bleachers weren't very full, despite it being family weekend). In fact, everyone seemed unfazed.

Oh, and we were told the press box would be full. 

A fairly small pressbox

 

As in a public address announcer and another person, who I'm going to guess maybe ran the scoreboard?

We could have fit in there, despite it being small.

The thing is it doesn't matter. Just give me space. Give me access to a power outlet. We'll take care of the rest.

Williston apparently had a live stream of their own. A cameraman worked on the roof of the press box. No one called the game.

Brunswick -- the visiting team -- had a cameraman and a duo of broadcasters. To some, that seems extreme. To me, I want these schools to expect us to be there.

I want them to expect a professional broadcast that is often a bit lighthearted but boy do we know how to tighten things up in a close game. 

And we had a close one. A good one.

Williston looked unbeatable early. They were up 14-0 after one quarter. It took the Bruins until later in the second to get it to 14-7. They chipped away and tied it up in the third before taking the lead in the fourth quarter. 

Then, the Wildcats marched to inside the Bruins' 5 yeard-line. The Brunswick defense tightened up, the Wildcats made a mistake on a handoff, and a final incomplete pass ended it.

You can listen to the archived broadcast here.

Chris and I packed up, shared a laugh with coach Wayne McGillicuddy, and went to grab dinner in a nearby establishment. The thing I found us both stressing was how happy we were that we both made the trip.

As if to prove our point the game was a joy and we did what we set out to do: call it as we always do, reporting it accurately and fairly.

We drove away feeling happy.

In the end, Williston Northampton barely knew we were there. That's also a big goal of mine.

We show up, we talk, we clean up, and we leave.

We'll see you probably in 2024.

Our next road game is in Cheshire. 

Just work with us and we can make it all work.

Everyone wins.