 |
...with
Dave Cohen.
A few years ago I toyed with the
idea of writing a book called "Checking out of Sports".
After 35 years, I'd been there; done that --- Major League
Baseball; the NBA; college football and basketball; Summer
and Winter Olympics; TV anchoring and radio sportstalk;
worked in the north and the south; in college towns and
pro cities.
I went from a play-by-play voice to a voice-over artist
to a voice-under actor. Yes doing play-by-play recreations
for all sorts of commercials.
They say play-by-play guys are
frustrated athletes. I was the frustrated play-by-play
guy who went back to playing baseball in over-30; over-38
and over 48 year-old leagues --- simultaneously! In fact,
I like to say I pitched for Bobby Cox long before Glavine,
Smoltz and Maddux --- tossing batting practice back when
Cox managed the Syracuse Chiefs in the '70's.
If I never call another game or host another show, its
been a magnificent ride. Along the way, my on-air partners
and colleagues have included Bob Costas;
James Brown; Linda Cohn: and Mike Tirico. Would believe
at Channel 3 in Syracuse, I did weekend sports and Costas
did the weather?
ESPN is marking its 25th anniversary and I was doing play-by-play
there in its first few weeks on-the-air. In December 1979,
after doing a UConn game in Storrs, I decided to take
a drive to Bristol. Coming around a hill at 2AM, I got
my first-ever look at what I could only describe as "a
giant white egg-shell" --- the first satellite dish
I had ever seen. Months later, doing the Harvard-Yale
crew race, we had to fish the Eli rowers out of the Thames
when their shell split in half.
These days, I'm teaching sportscasting at Kennesaw State
outside Atlanta; coaching ESPN talent; lending my voice
to hundreds of car commercials; and narrating e-learning
lessons for healthcare websites. If I don't land on the
cutting-room floor, look for me around tournament time
in the Bruckheimer-Disney movie Glory Road.
What a stretch ---- they cast me as a sportscaster!
Dave Cohen has pretty much done it all in his career...
he was once the voice of the Yankees... enough said. For
more on Dave and his career, visit his website: www.davecohen.net.
React to this week's commentary in
THE ENDZONE!
Back
to Round the Horn >
|
|
