Brunswick 2022

 

I called my final Brunswick broadcast for 2022 today as the basketball team beat Rye Country Day School by 40 points.

The Bruins jumped out to a 15-0 lead and, basically, cruised from there.

Prospective employers always want to know how broadcasters handle mundane moments or the times when the game is out of reach.

When working with Chris Erway, someone else, or alone, my mantra remains the same. Call the game, respect the game and the athletes. Also, pay attention to players who don't get playing time and give them their moment. Lastly, dig into talking about other things where possible. 

So I found myself thinking about our year with the Bruins.

There were four championship finals that were named with my voice on them. Hockey and basketball lost their respective title games last winter while lacrosse won the Prep Nationals in May and the football team clinched the Mike Silipo Bowl win in November.

Those are just four of the games and, as I did the math in my head during the broadcast, I figured the number would be over 50 broadcasts.

It was, in fact, 61, according to my trusty spreadsheet.

That's great, of course, and I'm beyond grateful, but you can probably guess what I'm going to say next.

It isn't enough.

Still, how can I be anything but thrilled and filled with gratitude, even if I'm hungry for more? I get to call games for coaches that I admire and consider friends. Coaches that, at times, have let me travel with their teams via bus. 

I get to work with a football coach who has become a friend and trusted colleague. 

Things changed since a pandemic hit in 2020. Of course, after I did one lacrosse game in March of that year, there were no more games to call.

Baseball and lacrosse seasons were wiped out. Football and soccer were also.

I headed into 2021 wondering if my time with the Bruins had come to an end but always hopeful.

Then Wayne McGillicuddy reached out to me via email. Suddenly, I was wanted for a series of hockey games in which I would, basically, be alone on the balcony calling the action. Fans weren't allowed in.

There would be no basketball (the gym was being used as a COVID clinic) but baseball and lacrosse would follow.

We went full throttle into this year. 

Oh, sure, we can always wish, can't we? I only did two Brunswick soccer games this year. Conversely, I did every football except one. Plus I was able to add Chris Erway and let us show Brunswick fans what we can do.

Yes, I'm the first to say I wish I had better access to information about the players. I'd love to get a questionnaire filled out with nuggets about them. In fact, lacrosse coach David Bruce wrote up some info for me and it allowed us to talk them up even more.

Believe me, that all helps so much.

With each game, the people at Brunswick get to know me even better. I'm fortunate to have the great relationships I have with everyone there. That stretches to parents and families and Brunswick staff and beyond.

Yet, again, we just keep wishing for more. I've talked about it -- openly, to be honest -- but alas, it hasn't been meant to be.

At least not yet.

They know me. They're getting to know Chris.

We're willing to trudge to Easthampton, MA for football. I'm willing to go to Norwich, CT -- in the rain, with no access to a large radio booth -- for baseball.

It becomes part of the story. It becomes part of the experience.

I love that, for the most part, families, and fans have come to rely on me to call the game. They tell me how I help explain things to them and offer stories that, while perhaps nonsensical, add a little flair to the broadcast.

They love my passion.

Yes. You have to have the passion to do this. You have to be a little bit crazy.

I still am.

The year started with the gutwrenching hockey game against Millbrook when sticks were out for Teddy Balkind. By the end of the year, that balcony inside the Hartong Rink that I've worked on since the early 2000s is now called the Balkind Balcony.

It rolled through the New England Large School championship game for the hockey team and the FAA Championship game for basketball. Then, of course, came baseball, and while the setup isn't ideal, my love of broadcasting that sport is pretty well-known.

Lacrosse did what they always do, steamrolling their way through the season to the first-ever Prep National Championship.

Oh, trust me when I say it wasn't all easy. The bone-chilling and muddy games at the baseball field.  The technical stuff. Not being heard on the LocalLive feed. What I'll call "broadcast snafus." 

If you know you know.

The schools that didn't quite get what Chris and I were trying to do during football.

Other stuff.

There are always things. Politics and such. Well-meaning things that become big snowballs.

The key is I know the school has my back and I'm eternally grateful.

And so I say thank you to Brunswick for another year.

I'm still looking for a permanent home to be sure and hope we can continue to run this into 2023.

And beyond.