“From Veteran Coach to Rookie Broadcaster”

“From Veteran Coach to Rookie Broadcaster”
Coastal Carolina at UNC-Greensboro

I have been a soccer coach my entire adult life. You would think that heading down Interstate 95 to Greensboro, NC last fall to do my first broadcast for the NSCAA and Fox Soccer Channel would be a chance to simply review in my head all the players for each team. Instead it was a 5 hour drive wondering about all the things that have nothing to do with soccer that could affect my rookie appearance as the color commentator for this match between Coastal Carolina and UNC-Greensboro. Where do I stand if I am doing an interview? Where do I hold the microphone? Do I look at the camera or the coach I am talking with? These were just a few of many questions going through my head over and over again. My first experience ended up relatively painless, but is worth talking about.

I arrived at the UNC-G soccer stadium 3 and 1/2 hours prior to the match to meet the producer Dave Bolton and Sean Wheelock (the play by play announcer). We were supposed to meet 3 hours prior, but my saying I always used with the players I coached for 22 years at Georgetown - “that the only way to be on time is to be early” – stuck in my head all day as I headed there. So 30 minutes early and what did I find? - No one who could help me with anything yet. In fact most people didn’t even realize I was going to be doing this game. I was hoping there would be an easy to follow users’ guide for a first time color commentator. I was also hoping this would be about 3 pages long only with big print so I could see it without my reading glasses! But there was nothing.

When I finally met with the Dave and Sean as well as Pat Britz from the NSCAA it was fairly evident that I was expected to be able to figure things out as we go. Dave’s productions are first class and he just gets people to do it right – with or without experience. Immediately I was told that I would do an opening piece that would be taped an hour prior to game time. It needed to be big, exciting – bring the audience into the game before the game starts. This was it – my Dick Vitale moment. Then I was asked to include a ritual that the UNC-G head coach (Mike Parker – a very close friend of mine) did before every home game: pick a tomato from a tomato patch he had planted in the corner of the stadium. So I had to throw out all my soccer lines and thoughts of the strategy the teams would need to battle each other and come up with an introduction of which the highlight would be picking tomatoes! (It was actually a good way to change a often similar opening).

Welcome to live TV. I don’t even like tomatoes! More to come…

PS – UNC-Greensboro won 4-0 with impressive performances by their center midfield duo from Iceland – Jokull Elisabetarson and Henning Jonasson , sophomore Tom Campbell and senior Randi Patterson - both from the PDA club in New Jersey as well as senior Scott Jones (drafted in this years MLS super draft by FC Dallas)