Scully Land

 

Short of broadcasting from Dodger Stadium, this is walking among the gods.

Or, in my case, my hero, mentor, and, basically, a male adult figure who wasn't my father.

I never met Vin Scully. Never spoke to him.

But I've followed him. I've studied his whole career.

Blah blah blah. You know this.

But I'm currently sitting inside Rose Hill Gymnasium at Fordham University.

Vin Scully started his career here.

Heck, he went to high school here also, as Fordham Prep is just steps away.

Much like I did when I stood outside where The Beatles had the Rooftop Concert, I walked around and tried to hear the master calling a basketball game here back in the 1940s.

Wake up the echos, as they say at Notre Dame.

Vin never called basketball professionally so we don't have the melodious voice describing set shots and four corners defense.

But we have so many examples of baseball, football, and golf, along with talk shows, a game show, and so on.

So to walk the campus where he went to college and high school, it's a lot for me to take in. 

The man taught me so much about play-by-play. He taught me the style I wanted to mostly abide by, while remaining true to myself. That's what Red Barber taught him.

I stopped at the baseball stadium, where I was greeted by a plaque that I could see from the street. Up to the right was the Vin Scully Press Box.

I realize there's one in Los Angeles that others can tell me they've worked at and I'd love to do that also, but this will have to do from an east coast perspective.

I even worked up the nerve to visit the lobby of Fordham Prep where a kind guard allowed me to look around. He told me there had been a few artifacts there but I couldn't find any. Just his kindness to be allowed in was enough for me.

Now I sit in Rose Hill Gym -- built in 1925 -- basking in the footsteps of Scully, Mike Breen, Michael Kay, Chris Carrino, John Andariese ("Johnny Hoops"), Bob Papa, Connell McShane, Justin Shackill, John Giannone, and other sports broadcasters as well as Vince Lombardi, Charles Osgood, Denzel Washington, Alan Alda, Patricia Clarkson, and so many other well-known Fordham alums.

To some, I don't deserve to walk in these footsteps.

To me, I'm beyond thankful and I'd like to think I belong.

I'm sitting above the court, waiting for Bishop Timon/St. Jude and Msgr. McClancy start.

The tipoff is at 6pm on LocalLive (and, yes, on Robcasting).

Pull up a chair, everyone, and let's have a very good evening wherever you may be.