The Team Photo

 

From left: Chris Kaelin, Sean Kilkelly, Nick Angotto, me, Chris Erway, Ryan Demaria

I saw that picture this morning in my memories on Timehop. The date says it was 2011.

Oh, what a time it was.

It was taken on the access road at Staples High School where the annual tailgate was taking place before the Thanksgiving Day game.

Back then we had a much bigger crew and, while all six of us might not have been on that broadcast, it wouldn't surprise me if we were.

We used sideline reporters and statisticians who also doubled as spotters in case I missed anything.

It also meant a larger array of equipment, including wireless microphones for the sideline reporters and whatever means we had to communicate with them. You see, I could hear them but they couldn't hear us without some kind of a system.

We tried walkie-talkies and hand signals before, eventually, switching to a small transmitter which allowed them to hear me via radio.

It was quite a production and it was quite a team.

It was Kato and Sean and Nick and Demer and ErJuan and me. But there were others. Nick Fox and Max Barefoot and Paul Silverfarb and Mark Rosen and Matt Hamilton and Tom Kane and Ricky Fritsch and still more.

And that was just on WGCH.

Ian Barto was our last sideline reporter and once he stepped away, we backed down to just the "A-Team" duo of Chris and me. Of course, Sean Kilkelly still anchors us in the studio. I can't stress enough that his role is so important to simply keep us on the air and to handle whatever issues come up on his end. When it flows well, it's a simple babysitting job. 

When it doesn't then it's a hellacious babysitting job.

The big broadcast crews were great. We'd often have three or four and that seemed like the magic number. We'd ride together in the station van (we don't have one any longer) and have meals and really be a team. But, we also ran the risk of egos and simply getting tired of each other.

Still, we even traveled a few times, like Sean, Mark Rosen, and me in a hotel in Syracuse for a New York state championship. Oh yeah, and a lot of snow. 

On the opposite end was Nick Angotto, Jason Intrieri, and me in Naples, FL.

Now, frequently, games just have me on them. That's how life evolves.

But there's also something about the simplicity of just the two broadcasters. Chris Erway and I have had a season to remember with trips to Massachusetts and Wallingford and Cheshire and Pawling, New York.

For all of our "A-Team" goofy bluster, we're a pretty decent broadcast duo.

And the season isn't done yet. That's not the point of this post. There is at least one playoff game -- at Cardinal Stadium on Tuesday night.

In fact, I called the GYFL Graduation Bowl solo at Cardinal Stadium this morning.

But the picture reminded me of those earlier days.

If it was 2011, it was the days of being a single dad to a nine-year-old. It was also in the days of beginning to rediscover myself and that's a process that is still going on. But it was also a season of just 21 game broadcasts. That was the lowest since my first year doing play-by-play, in 1999.

That would only change once I helped start HAN Radio and the HAN Network and, eventually, Robcasting.

Listeners and fans deserve better. They deserve more games. Admittedly, quantity isn't the answer. Quality is, and I sometimes have to remind myself of that. In 2011, we hopefully produced 21 quality broadcasts. In 2022, we hopefully produced well over 120 quality broadcasts with WGCH, LocalLive, Robcasting, NJ.com, WALL, WDLC, WYNY, and Fairfield Prep. I hope I didn't miss anyone.

I suppose that picture stirred memories of laughs. We did plenty of that. I actually think that was the day that MSG Varsity was on-hand for the TV broadcast of that game and they were filming "B roll" of the tailgate for their pregame opening package.

What they didn't know was a few of the faces that they were filming came from WGCH Radio. You know, as in "the competition." Considering how they often bullied themselves around FCIAC games (while not really knowing the FCIAC that well), we got a good laugh out of it.

Oh, stories. Such stories. I don't mean to hate on MSG. Most of the people there were solid, both on the air and behind the scenes. We all tried to work together.

Consider this growth on my part.

The faces in the picture now are older. More girth. Less hair. More kids. Different responsibilities. Our schedules all got a little crazier. I try to keep in touch with all of them.

Yet, in truth, only Sean Kilkelly, Chris Erway, and I are still in broadcasting.

WGCH still isn't covering enough games. I keep trying to change that.

The HAN Network is long gone.

Pictures say so much.

Time brings understanding and wisdom.