My Duck Debut
As many people know, I will be given the chance to cover the Oregon Ducks new baseball team this spring.
My first game will be at St Mary's in Moraga, California.
But that game will not be my first game for the Ducks.
Monday night, Oregon basketball hosts Long Beach State and Jerry Allen will be in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl.
That means somebody has to fill in.
And finally, that somebody is me.
Its taken four years for this to work out.
The last time the Ducks went to the Holiday Bowl, the Ducks tried to get ahold of me, but - if you can believe it - I missed the email from the Oregon Sports Network.
Instead of me, Jay Reese got the call and I had to wait for the next football/basketball conflict.
It came the next season. But the call went to Jay again.
Back in September the Ducks named me as one of the announcers for baseball.
Since I am now officially under contract with Oregon, I get my chance to say hello to Duck fans on the Oregon Sports Network.
Its really something to compare calling a college game to a high school game.
University athletic departments have fleets of staff members who compile pages and pages of notes for every game. They are called Sports Information Directors.
Their work is provided as a package of information for members of the media in order to answer any conceivable question.
Stats are just a small part of the game notes.
Storylines, trends, oddities and biographies are all included in the game notes.
In covering a high school game, the announcer is required to put together his or her own notes.
Its getting alot easier with the internet and quality websites, but it is time consuming and not always accurate.
The Ducks released the game notes for the Long Beach State game Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. I was able to go to http://www.goducks.com/, open the notes as a PDF and (even better) print the pages I need to prepare for the game.
You can do it too. Fans have access to the same information.
My first game will be at St Mary's in Moraga, California.
But that game will not be my first game for the Ducks.
Monday night, Oregon basketball hosts Long Beach State and Jerry Allen will be in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl.
That means somebody has to fill in.
And finally, that somebody is me.
Its taken four years for this to work out.
The last time the Ducks went to the Holiday Bowl, the Ducks tried to get ahold of me, but - if you can believe it - I missed the email from the Oregon Sports Network.
Instead of me, Jay Reese got the call and I had to wait for the next football/basketball conflict.
It came the next season. But the call went to Jay again.
Back in September the Ducks named me as one of the announcers for baseball.
Since I am now officially under contract with Oregon, I get my chance to say hello to Duck fans on the Oregon Sports Network.
Its really something to compare calling a college game to a high school game.
University athletic departments have fleets of staff members who compile pages and pages of notes for every game. They are called Sports Information Directors.
Their work is provided as a package of information for members of the media in order to answer any conceivable question.
Stats are just a small part of the game notes.
Storylines, trends, oddities and biographies are all included in the game notes.
In covering a high school game, the announcer is required to put together his or her own notes.
Its getting alot easier with the internet and quality websites, but it is time consuming and not always accurate.
The Ducks released the game notes for the Long Beach State game Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. I was able to go to http://www.goducks.com/, open the notes as a PDF and (even better) print the pages I need to prepare for the game.
You can do it too. Fans have access to the same information.
I have re-written both teams rosters, placing vital stats under each players name so I have instant access to the most important information.
For a high school basketball game, I get the other teams' roster at the door and get familiar with the roster as I enter into my scorebook.Oh, thats another thing. I don't even need a scorebook for the Oregon game.
In addition to a replay video screen and live stats, those staffers in the athletic department serve as statisticians at Mac Court.
During the Duck game, I will have running stats on shooting percentage, turnovers and rebounds on a screen and a new stat sheet at every stoppage of play.
It might make me spoiled when I call my next RHS game.
To listen to Brian call the Ducks and 49ers Monday night, tune in to 101.1 fm or listen at http://www.goducks.com/.
posted by Brian at 4:14 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Brian. You did a lovely job calling the game. I am so proud of you, and so happy for you and your precious family. Happy anniversary. JohnT
Post a Comment
<< Home