A we near about a week away from the September 13 audition, I’m starting to get excited about the opportunity to try out for a job that only a few have, an announcing job with a major professional sports team.

I’ve heard from the previous announcer about who he’s heard might be trying out along with a few other people who are trying out.  There’s a lot of good talent that’s going to be there and some people have told me that I’m a front-runner.  Maybe it’s because I’m all over the place announcing or maybe those people just have only heard of me, I don’t know.  If I’m a front-runner, cool.  I’ve never been the front-runner in anything!

With high school sports season starting, I am doing volleyball and football which keeps me busy and keeps my vocal cords in shape.  A couple of people I know who are wanting to try out are telling me they can’t cover an event for me the Saturday before because they want to rest their voice for the auditions.  I could never do that.  In fact, I’ve found that the more announcing I do, the better my voice bounces back after a hard game.  It’s true.  After my first Purple Puck hockey tournament, I couldn’t talk clearly for three days after.  This past Purple Puck, I announced all the games and did play-by-play for the last three while also doing the P. A.   That’s a lot of talking, but if I needed to do a game the next morning, I would have been able to.  It’s exercising a muscle.

So wish me luck on the 13th, all the good wishes will be appreciated!

Recently, I found out about an announcing job in the NBA with the Washington Wizards.  I know the former P. A. announcer and he suggested I get in contact with the right person and throw my hat into the ring, so I did.

The audition is coming up on September 13 at Verizon Center in Washington, D. C. and I will admit that I’m nervous.  I think some of the nerves might have to do with that I have the confidence that I could get this job.  I know there will be some really good announcers going up against me in this, and that the Wizards may already have someone on the line to take the job, but I’m going into this audition with the thought that the job is mine to win, I just need to do what I do best.

I know what they’re looking for announcing wise and they’ve gotten a sample of my announcing.  I’ve done a lot of hockey games at Verizon Center so I’ll have that comfort level to me that others may not.  Knowing that the auditions are now open to any one lets me know that there will be a lot of announcers coming in that are trying to see where they stand up to other announcers.  Not a bad thing to do for some younger announcers or even those who just want to give it a shot and hear themselves on the sound system at Verizon Center.

I also know that there are going to be a handful (hopefully not even that many) who I’ve run into over the years who feel they’re the greatest announcer ever and will go in expecting the team to bow down to them.  I’ve even interacted with an announcer lately that said, “I’m the greatest announcer in [the high schools].”  He announces ONLY football and basketball and the DSA at the school really doesn’t like the guy because of his attitude but keeps him around because it’s one less thing to worry about.

After his statement to me, I figured something out.  That I’m announcing for nine different high schools in different sports and each one would love to have me do more if they could.  Two of those high schools are outside of Northern Virginia.

I know I’ll have a lot of people rooting for me based on the number of Facebook replies I received after posting it to my account.  It’s one of those things that I could probably get a group of tickets together for people to come to my first game at Verizon Center and probably sell quite a few tickets.  That would be awesome to have this job, and something I’ve worked 19-plus years for, a shot a major-pro job.

If I get the job, I still plan on announcing other sports like I have been all these years.  No reason to stop what I’m doing and cheat those who’ve supported me all those years.  Plus, it’d be a good boost to the teams I’ve been announcing for along with the Wizards.  People would now be able to say, “We have the Wizards announcer doing our game,” and that would be great.  Imagine having people come to a high school game and say, “Didn’t I hear him at the Wizards game the other night?”

As much as I like to daydream, I also like to keep it real.  I don’t have the job right now and it’s a job I would like to win.  I have the ability and the support, but if things don’t work out, they don’t work out.  Would I be upset not getting the job?  A few years ago I probably would bad-mouth this guy or that guy but I’ve learned over the years that it’s not that guy’s fault.  He was just better that day and the person making the decision got the person they wanted.  You can’t fault someone for getting what they want, even if you don’t like it.  I mean, you don’t walk into a restaurant, see someone eating a meal that you’d never order, then tell them how bad a person they are for ordering that.  That’s just wrong and not needed.  At the end of the day, my little one will smile at daddy when I come home, my wife will be there to grudgingly listen to the highlights of whatever game I just announced, and life will continue to go on.  There will be another chance some day, it’s not life and death.

If I get the job, I’ll cherish every moment of it, knowing that one day it could be done.  Someone new might come in, someone might not like how I say something, someone might not like how clothes fit me.  It doesn’t matter, as long as I’m there, I’m taking it for what it is, a major-professional announcing job that allows me to watch the best athletes in that sport and tell people about what’s going on.

Now, I just need to do something about these nerves!

I know that maybe I have been in a few blogs here and there as “they” as in, “They played some good music.” or “he” as in “He announced Jeff…”, or “the announcer” as in “The announcer messed up his name”, but rarely do I appear as an exact quote. Our friends over at OnFrozenBlog, a Washington Capitals blog asked me a few questions at a recent beautification day at Powell Elementary School in Northwest DC.

The blog post is about Mike Green of the Caps who appeared and helped out.  Check out the blog post, it’s well written and talks about how athletes in this area give back.  Last year, I did a similar event in which Bruce Boudreau appeared and always consider my relationship with the Caps to be a great one and I’m lucky to be able to help them out.

These events are great to help out at, but to be asked by a major professional sports team to provide music all day while volunteers are working hard, is an honor.  Having done a lot of the same hard work these volunteers had to, I know how much better it goes when you have music to listen to.  Occasionally, I can’t make it to some of the events the Caps ask me to help out with but I’ve got a great crew behind me that can help out and has before.

The blog post is below:

http://www.onfrozenblog.com/2010/08/22/mike-green-colors-talks-upcoming-season.html

In all the time I’ve been announcing, I’ve met quite a few great people.  Some of those people have been kids who’ve hung out around the pressbox, penalty box or wherever I happened to be announcing.  Kids sometimes come up with great questions and take great interest in all the “cool” gadgets and toys I have laying around the announcing table.  I’ve even invited a few to help me play music and sound effects.  Getting to watch the kids as they grow from curious little cuties to high school graduates does make you feel old but you get a strange sense of accomplishment.

As a new father, I look at kids in a different light.  Seeing the kids do things at the ballpark or stadium, I often wonder to myself, “what would I do if my son did that”.  I’m sure there are other parents out there who’ve had the same thoughts.  So when I see a kid doing something I immediately think that my little one will do that one day and I hope that he’s treated with respect, the same respect I treat kids when they’re doing that some thing.

Rarely have I ever thought, “Wow, I’m glad that kid is gone.”  I can think of two instances, one during a hockey tournament I was announcing and the kid had a little too much coach in him for his own good.  The second, was a day when two kids who’d I never met were running around and getting into everything.  At one point, they even turned my sound system down.  Boy was I glad when those kids left but I treated those kids with the same respect that I hope someone else does when my child does something like that–I also hope that my child will NEVER touch something like a sound system without proper permission.

That brings up my title, parents, please watch your kids.  It really does mean something, especially to the announcer who is announcing, doing music and running the scoreboard, that you’re keeping an eye on your kids and keeping them out of his hair.  It’s ok to ask a question or two, I don’t mind.  Just keep the questions related to the game or something simple.

Talking about music I’m playing is one thing, asking me if I saw their recent video and my incite to the song, video, meaning and more is going a little too far.  Also, remember, stadiums are exciting places for children, they’re going to want to explore.  Bleachers look like big jungle gyms.  I played on them when I was a kid and never understood why we were thrown out of the places we were thrown out of, nobody was above us and we really weren’t hurting any one.  However, I’ve now seen kids climb directly under people as well as through and around the wires that I have running.  I tend to tie everything down as best as possible and make it so if someone trips on a wire that it’s not going to cause damage to them or unplug the sound system.

I know that my little one is going to go with me to games, he’s already gone with me to a few games already with mom and even helped me DJ an event for the Washington Capitals.  It was a Kids Club event so I figured it was ok to bring a member!  We called him DJ Baby and he was a huge hit!  When my son (and other children when we have them) comes with me, I will set boundaries for him and expect him to abide by them.  He’ll know where he can go (as long as I can see him) and can’t go (under the stands, near the barbeque, on the field, etc.) and I’ll explain to him why he can’t go those places.  That’s something I haven’t seen a lot of parents do these days is tell a kid why he or she can’t do something, they just say no.  Even at 11 months, my son has realized that he can do some things, can’t do others and if mommy or daddy say no that we’ll explain why.

I work in some expensive areas and when I bring a sound system with me to an event it’s worth well over $2,500 and that’s before the cost of the computer and all the music.  Please understand that one innocent move by a child can cost a lot of money because the parents will be held accountable for the actions of their children.  Had my sound board gone down, they would have been on the hook for at least $300.  If I bring another company’s sound board, you can be looking at over $1,000.

So parents, if you want to make sure you don’t buy a present for someone you’ve never met because your child was running around an area they shouldn’t have been, then please watch your kids and know what they’re doing.  On behalf of announcers world wide, we thank you for your consideration.

There are times when I’m talking with someone and the topic of how I got to where I am comes up.  I remember those who helped me out and got me to where I am today, some of those people are really obscure when you look at where I’ve arrived, but I remember that they are responsible for me getting to where I am, either by experiences or by hiring me for one event that jumped to another.

The first person to allow me behind the microphone was Gene Sherman who was the JV baseball coach at W. T. Woodson High School.  You can see he is responsible for me getting all of the jobs I got after that first season began in February of 1992, but there were a lot of chance happenings that got me to other jobs.  I will note a few of the people who have helped me to get to where I am today in this post.

George Sexton.  George was the father of a Centreville hockey player who heard me announce a game they played against Bishop Ireton and asked me to announce a game for them later that year before I wound up moving to New York.  George kept my information and called me to do games for him when I got wound up back in the area and passed my name onto a fellow who had a team in Major League Roller Hockey in Chantilly, Va.  That contact would turn into a long relationship as I wound up meeting Bill Raue who had me go to Europe and announce a tournament for him.  The boards from that Chantilly complex are now in a facility called The Box.  Steve Angeline, who ran The Box when it opened, heard me do one of the MLRH games and remembered a sign I had put up for the games.  He called about five years after, but if George Sexton hadn’t called me, I never would have run into Steve.  Since that time, I’ve announced and refereed many times for his son Zach and he and I both work in some capacity during Caps games.

Rob Faktorow.  I owe a lot of my announcing to Rob, he’s the reason I got to announce at Verizon Center the first time and over 100 times since then.  Rob asked me to announce for his youngest son’s game at then MCI Center back in 2003.  It was there I met Tim Bronaugh who has been a friend of mine for a long time.  A year later, I was asked to announce a game at MCI (again by George Sexton!) and Tim asked me more about what I did.  After moving back to the area, I wound up getting a couple of games and when I knew I’d be staying in the DC area, told Tim that I’d be happy to announce any other games they have.  Now, Tim gives my name to all the teams that play their games before or after Caps game, I do about 90% of the games (some I can’t because of availability).  Doing those games got my name around the organization and when they were looking for a DJ for an event, they asked me because they saw me around at the pre- and post- games as well as at some of the Caps public appearances at rinks announcing for the rinks.  Now, I’ve done a lot for the Caps and the Caps for me.  I have a staff pass for each of the first three seasons they made the playoffs (I’m hoping to keep that going!) and made a lot of great relationships with a lot of the departments.  I wouldn’t have been able to get my foot in the door had it not been for Rob Faktorow!  Thanks Rob!

Sean O’Connor.  It’s funny, when it comes to most of the baseball games I do today, it has something to do with Sean.  His DeMatha Stags baseball team has had me announce for them for three years and I’ve done other games for Sean.  It’s just now starting to get some referrals!  One of his assistants has asked me to announce a couple of games for him, as well as a few others who’ve heard me.  It’s taken some time, but because of Sean, I’ve now had the chance to announce at Prince George’s County Stadium (Bowie Baysox) and Johnny Unitas Stadium (Towson University).  In the future, it looks like two of Baltimore’s largest stadiums will have my voice echoing through them at some point in the future, but that’s not set yet!

Way back in the year 1998, I was in my first season of professional baseball.  That year would turn out to be a strange kind of season for me, and the first of many.  I began 1998 as a high school announcer and by the end of the first month, I was slated to head down to Florida to be the music person for the new Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  That would mean no announcing, but I would be getting to work for a Major League Baseball team and see an inaugural game.

After arriving in Florida shortly after Valentine’s Day, I would begin my time in professional baseball which would conclude in June 2004.  Little would I know that by that July of 1998, I would have announced for three Minor League teams, see a player attempt a comeback, an organization’s first ever game and ride in an elevator with George Steinbrenner.

Shortly after the season began with the Devil Rays, my boss at the time John Franzone would introduce me to the fellows over in Tampa who needed a P. A. announcer for their home games.  I would do as many of those as I could that did not conflict with the Devil Rays home games.  In my first game at Legends Field, I would announce for Dave Steib, who was attempting to come back and was pitching for the Dunedin Blue Jays.

I was pretty much alternating series between Tropicana Field and Legends Field.  One night, the Tampa Yankees were playing in St. Pete, so I went down to Al Lang Stadium and caught them in action.  Got to meet a few people that night and get a glimpse of a great thing that was about to happen to me.  It was during that April of games that I was learning the professional way of life, such as there is a P. A. announcer, a music person, a scoreboard operator and a message board operator.  Teams hired one of each (or a couple of each), but nobody multi-tasked.   I actually found announcing for the Tampa Yankees a little boring but it did have a little bit of a feel of Yankee Stadium.

One night, I’m coming into the ballpark around 5:30 p.m., I liked to get there early and relax a little bit.  As I’m coming in through the employee entrance, which also serves as the entrance to the executive part of the stadium,  there is a gentlemen or lady waiting there to make sure the right people get through.  The gentleman that would stand near the door scared me.  He was huge and I was not so huge.  When he worked, I was intimidated a little.

I step onto the elevator this night to go up to the press level.  As the doors begin to close I hear someone shout to hold the elevator and believe it was the doorman.  He said it so sternly that I jumped at pushing the button to open the door.  Someone else who was also on the elevator at the time saw who was coming on and stepped off himself.  I had no idea that I was about to break a steadfast rule that resulted in some losing their jobs.

The person stepping on was George Steinbrenner and sure enough in the Florida heat, he had on his trademark turtleneck.  To his defense, the press and suite levels were always kept quite chilly.  I realized who it was as the doors closed and stood in the back of the elevator.  Just me and George Steinbrenner, who I was not quite keen of at the time, having been an Orioles fan and watching them lose to the Yankees the year before in the ALCS did not sit well with me.  Oh, what I could have done in that short 20-second elevator ride, but didn’t do (it wouldn’t have been worth it).

As the game gets ready to start, the General Manager of the team, Sam Arena walks in and mentions to us to be on our game, that “Mr. Steinbrenner is here tonight.”

“I know,” I said.  “I rode up on the elevator with him.”

Arena turned a very pale shade of white, just about matching the shirt he was wearing that night.  He asked me to repeat myself and I did.  He looked over to one of the guys who’d been working there for a while and said something like, “Oh boy” then left the game production room.

About 20 minutes later, Arena comes back into the production area, leans down to my right and says, “I don’t think anyone told you, but you’re not supposed to ride on the elevator with Mr. Steinbrenner.  You’re supposed to get off.”

I immediately realized that I could be in the same company and many executives, a few managers and even more coaches in packing up my stuff in leaving.

Arena made me feel better when he said, “It’s ok, he likes you and thinks you do a good job.”

Wow, hmmm, how many emotions can run through someone like me in such a short amount of time?  Fear, remorse, scared, anger, happy, relaxed, elated, light a 500-pound man jumped on my shoulders then jumped off a few moments later.  Here I was, thinking “how cool is this, I’m in an elevator with George Steinbrenner,” and how I’m going to tell everyone I know about this.  Even though I did not like the guy because he was the owner of the Yankees, I still respected the man for what he’d done to get the Yankees to where they were.  I had truly thought about asking for his autograph while in the elevator but chose not to.  Glad I did, that might have gotten me fired!

I write this the day that George Steinbrenner died of a heart attack at his home in Tampa.  The day of the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Anaheim, California.  Just two days after the passing of the greatest P. A. announcer of all-time, Bob Shepard.

Am I a Yankees fan, no.  But you have to respect Mr. Steinbrenner for all he did for sports.  One of the best owners of all time, he knew how to take the focus off a bad product on the field and put it on himself long enough for his team to catch up.  He called you out for not doing your job, but recognized even the little people around the ballpark.  He understood that even though you might make minimum wage, that you still meant something.  He knew that the Yankees were baseball and baseball was the Yankees.  He brought them back to prominence and kept them there a long time.  His final World Series game, he went out on top.  His final regular season game, his team was the best in baseball.

Rest in Peace George Steinbrenner, it was a pleasure riding the elevator with you.

In baseball, I routinely announce something like the following, “Bats, balls and other objects may leave the field at any time…we ask all fans to remain alert at all times.”

Well, that statement can also be true for those of us behind a microphone.  In EVERY sport, it’s possible for the announcer and others working in the media area to become part of the game, some moreso than others.

How many times have we seen a basketball game on TV where a player goes up and over the scorer’s table?  That would seem to be the most obvious occurrence of the announcer getting involved in the game, especially if the ball is coming towards him/her and so are players.  But, the same can happen in volleyball as well.  In fact, the most dangerous sport for announcers could arguably be volleyball because you could get hit at any time, especially during warm-ups.

I’ve taken a few balls off the side of my head during the warm-ups of a volleyball match.  I’ve also had balls hit right at me during the match.  The worst instance of a ball coming at me during a volleyball match was during a high school match in 2009.  The ball was spiked over the net and the first person to touch the ball got underneath in.  The ball went up on a lob, coming right over to my spot at the scorer’s table.  One of the front-row players decided late to chase it down and I had already committed to bumping it back into the court.  The official had blown the play down to award the point, however the player was standing in front of my by the time I bumped the ball.  She was there long enough for me to bump it into her face.  She was fine and I felt bad, but it can happen.

Other sports do have the opportunity to have balls come toward you (even pucks too).  In the 18-plus years I’ve been announcing, I’ve outright caught four balls, two baseball and two softball.  I’ve had others come into the pressbox and rattle around, and still have a few of those.  The first ball I got during a game happened in 1998 in St. Petersburg.  My parents were in town visiting and the ball was fouled off into the stands.  As it bounced the first time off the concrete it came into the announcer’s area and I caught it for ball number 1.

The next year at Orlando’s Tinker Field, I was in the announcer’s area when Julio Mosquera fouled a pitch off.  The ball ricocheted off a support beam and found it’s way through the only window that was open in my area…mine!  I never saw it, only heard it, then heard it rattle around.  I picked up the ball and kept it.  Still don’t know how I didn’t see it come in!

The next foul ball I caught, came in 2005 on Opening Night in Portland, Oregon.  The Beavers were opening the season at home and I was the new guy.  The press area is outside at PGE Park, a great vantage point, and enough cover to avoid getting rained on.  Late in the game, a ball was fouled off and the liner came straight back into the press area, hit a seat in the first row of the sky boxes directly behind us and was on a bee line to take out the official scorer or the radio guy.  I reached back and made the catch of the ball without thinking about it.  Not a bad grab and my first Pacific Coast League baseball.

Fast forward a couple of years to 2007 and the Washington Glory.  With members of Team USA in the stands, I was conducting  a contest in the stands and ran into an old friend.  Her and I chatted during the inning while I was still announcing.  After that I started to walk back up to the press deck.  A ball was fouled off and our call for anything coming toward the press deck was “incoming”.  I called out, then realized that I was in prime position to make the catch.  I reached up and grabbed the ball for my first softball and third foul ball overall while announcing.

In 2010 at the VHSL State Championship game, at a site we’d chatted about numerous times about how hard it is for balls to come into the pressbox, a player went to bunt the ball and just missed, sending the ball just over the edge of the backstop and right toward me.  I reached out and caught it.  Didn’t have to do much but sit there and haul it in for number four.

Not bad, four balls in 18-plus years!

But, other sports mean other things.  My first game announcing at The Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Maryland, I had a puck fired over the boards, hitting the glass behind me and hitting me square in the back.  Since then, I’ve been hit a few times over the years, but none that hard.  Ft. Dupont Ice Arena in Washington, DC is another dangerous location, but not as bad as the first one.

The funniest puck incident happened at Prince William Ice Center and Dale City, Va.  As of this writing, the arena is not there, but is being rebuilt after collapsing last winter.  A puck was shot up and over the glass around the penalty box.  It hit the back wall and then the screen of my laptop, falling on the keyboard.  All three officials, players from both teams and coaches were all looking over at us in the penalty box to make sure we were ok.  Well, that’s what I thought.  I waved that I was ok, no reaction.  I started playing a song noting the computer was ok…that got a loud round of applause!  Interesting reaction to say the least!

While announcing other sports, I’ve had the opportunity to be part of the play.  At some college soccer facilities, you’re right on the field with the players.  Balls do come at us, most of the time as rolling out of play and we flip the ball back in.  There are, however, some instances where a defensive player makes a play and winds up deflecting the ball, at a high rate of speed, directly at the press area.  American University and George Washington University, I’ve had that happen several times.

Also at American, I’ve had field hockey balls and lacrosse balls roll into my legs or feet.  Before they put in a riser for the 2009 season, it was not uncommon for an errant ball during warm-ups to wind up coming at us.  Coaches would try to stop the balls, but were focused on other items before the game.  It would happen every 2 or 3 games, but the opportunity was always there to have it happen.  The riser was a great addition, prior to that, the staff had placed wood posts on the ground to help knock down some of the balls.  It worked most of the time, a very proactive thought to keep us safe!

The moral of this whole post, is to stay alert at all times, you never know when you’ll become part of the game, or part of the game will come to you.

I’ve seen my fair share of delays in sports.  You name it, I’ve probably experienced it, save for bugs.  I’ve seen them on TV, but never had an extended delay due to bugs.

The most common delay is a rain delay.  I’ve seen it in just about every park I’ve been to more than four or five times, and a few that I was never able to get in to.  I’ve seen them from Little League games all the way up to major league games.  I even had tickets to a game in a dome that was canceled because of rain–well hurricane.  Rain delays can be quick, usually around 30 minutes if it’s a quickie, or longer.  The first one I sat through was 98 minutes at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, we two of the few seats that were under cover so it wasn’t that bad.  I’ve sat through delays of over 2 1/2 hours and waited until nearly midnight for two pitches to complete a game because of rain.  Rain delays are simple, it rains, tarp comes out, rain stops, tarp goes in and they work on the field.

Sometimes though, you get some interesting things happening like this YouTube video from the 2009 Big East Tournament in Clearwater, Florida.  Personally, I’ve gone tarp sliding only once and it was a blast.  That was when I worked in Auburn, NY and there were quite a few people who were taking pictures and encouraging us.  It’s not good for the field, but we had fun!  Those are typically what you get during a rain delay, is a little bit of dancing and some slip-n-slide action.

The dancing, though, is something I was known for in St. Petersburg.  If it was raining, people would actually come out to the ballpark to see what we were doing.  We would have dance contests, trivia contests, Let’s Make A Deal-style contests and more.  The point was, take a time that was going to be boring, and make it fun.  That’s what we did.  Now, have you ever heard of people coming to a game EXPECTING it to rain???  Mike Veeck, I’m looking at you, but the Wichita Wingnuts beat us to it, sort of.

So, you might be saying, what other kinds of delays are there?  There can’t be any other kind, can there?  This is mainly towards baseball, but there are some delays that can stretch into other sports like football and hockey.  Here’s a list of where I’ve had these problems, or seen them.

Light Delay:  The first time I saw this happen was on TV and then didn’t see it again for almost 10 years.  Then the lights went out in Frederick, Maryland and wouldn’t come back on.  A year later, it happened at Tropicana Field during the first year of the Devil Rays and at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.  The latter two, the lights came back on.  That same season, it also happened at Florida Power Park, Home of Al Lang Field so the St. Petersburg Devil Rays had it happen to them on the home AND road in the same season.  I’ve also had the lights go out during hockey games.  Sometimes it’s all, a couple of times it’s been a few, but we waited for the lights to come back.  There was once during a high school basketball game the lights went out after the first quarter and that was fun to work with.  Sometimes, it just happens!

Fog Delays:  You’d think this is more likely to happen in hockey, and I was officiating a game where we delayed the start of the game due to fog.  But once during an early-morning baseball game, fog rolled in and the left fielder could no longer see home plate (and those of us in the pressbox could barely see the field).  That was a nice little 25 minute delay while the fog burned off but it eventually did.

Bug Delays:  These seem to happen when a swarm of bugs moves in on a field and the game is delayed until bug spray can be found.  I’ve seen this happen a couple of times, but there were reports years ago of this actually happening with all kinds of migrating flies coming into the stadium and making it nearly unplayable.

Sun Delays:  OK, you have to think I’m nuts here, but how can sun delay a game?  I’ve seen it and it’s believed to have been the last time it happened in Minor League Baseball.  The baseball stadium in Pittsfield, Mass. sits so some plate faces due west, looking right into a setting sun.  Over the years, the trees behind the outfield fence have grown taller so this happening because rarer.  The last time the Auburn Doubledays visited Pittsfield in the 2001 season, the umpires halted the game because the sun was right in the eyes of the catcher, batter and umpire.  Once the sun went down, all could see, the game resumed.  It was interesting to say the least.

Taking a look at some of the on-air personalities during the NHL playoffs and NHL coverage, you see one common denominator, the Washington Capitals.

The Caps have several former players who have gone into broadcasting at a high level.  I’m not counting Craig Laughlin, Ken Sabourin or Alan May who work on the local Comcast SportsNet broadcasts, but the guys that you see on Versus and NHL Network.

Guys like Keith Jones, Larry Murphy, Brian Engblom, Garry Galley and Bill Clement.  It’s not only former NHLers who are high up in the media, Yahoo!’s hockey blogger, Puck Daddy (a.k.a. Greg Wyshyski) was a student at University of Maryland in College Park and spent some time in print media in the DC area.  He also covered high school sports for a local cable access television station that was believed to be the muse for Wayne’s World of Saturday Night Live fame, though some dispute that fact.

People say that Washington is not a hockey town, but it seems to do a good job of producing those who are seen as hockey experts.  Take a look at Kenny Albert who is now with the New York Rangers, but used the Caps as a stepping stone to get there.  Other former broadcasters include Jeff Rimer who has spent time in Florida and with Columbus.  Rimer began his time in then HTS as being a sideline reporter for Mike Fornes and Al Koken, the latter of which is still on the air and rinkside at Caps home games.

Craig Button, who appears on NHL Network’s NHL on the Fly, is the son of former Capitals Assistant General Manager Jack Button.  One of the younger Button’s castmates on the show is Gary Green, former Capitals Head Coach.

People may talk about Washington not being a hockey town, though this past season showed that it very well has a case to be one, but a lot of media types seem to come out of the Caps organization.

A lot of people who want to provide music for their sports event don’t know what to play, or are too nervous to realize the obvious.  You play what the people want to hear.  First, I’m going to post a link below that will help you with organ music and crowd prompts, however please note there are bits on this page that are not suitable for a crowd under 21.

http://www.promoonly.com/soundefx/ (please note, all of the “good stuff” is in the left column)
Selecting Your Music

Now we get to the point that a lot of people are nervous with and think there is a “perfect” list to choose songs from, the perfect list is any song that is upbeat and fun.  It can be from any era and genre.  Below, I’ll list various sports I announce and the types of music I play for each one of them with some examples.  Because of copyright laws, I will not post any of the songs where you could download them, but you can find pretty much all of them on Napster or or ITunes (please note, SportsAnnouncing.com does not endorse either service).

Baseball/Softball
70′s music (disco, funk, rock, contemporary),
80′s music (new wave, rock, pop, punk),
modern rock (Nickleback, AC/DC, Linkin Park, Daughtry, 3 Doors Down, Shinedown)
dance/techno (2 Unlimited, DaRude, DJ Jean)
pop music (Ke$ha, Miley Cyrus, Lady GaGa, Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, Sean Kingston)
classic rock (AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, U2)
go-go (Chuck Brown)
country (Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Brooks and Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, Gloriana)

Ice Hockey
classic rock (Rob Zombie, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Beastie Boys, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourn, Golden Earring, ZZ Top, Billy Idol, U2)
modern rock (Disturbed, Metallica, Pantera, The Offspring, Muse, The Bravery, Green Day, Linkin Park, Atreyu, Collective Soul, Rev Theory)
techno (DaRude, DJ Jean, 2 Unlimited)