I thought that I'd use this opportunity to answer some of my own questions that I usually ask the players during my Labatt Blue On Deck Show Interviews...I have been asked by people what my responses would be and since I never get to be interviewed on my own broadcasts here we go...
Songs on my iPod I'm afraid to admit are there:Well...I am a musical junkie...I went and saw about four musicals this offseason...So, I will admit that on my iPod I have quite a few surprising tunes...Two songs from Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Three songs from Wicked! and a couple from Phantom of the Opera...I also have two Michael Buble' tunes in addition to some Frank Sinatra...what musical collection is complete without Frank?? Not embarassing I have become a fan of Andy Griggs, who will be at Wuerfel Park on August 7...I added three songs of his to my collection as well...My iPod has alittle of everything, musicals, kinda classical (Frank/Buble), swing, hard rock, pop, country (most popular country artist in my collection is Kenny Chesney who I have like eight songs of)top 40, and my personal favorite, 80's music!!
What people don't know about me:I was a swimmer for like 15 years of my life...I swam through high school and was a member of the North Central College (Division III) swim team for four seasons in addition to like the 20,000 other things I did in college...While I was average at best, I did put everything into the sport every day of practice and competition...Yes, I even shaved my head, legs, and arms, once a year (Embarassing!)...I bet I could still hold my own in the pool, but I don't swim much anymore...The crowning moment of my college career came my senior year when I finally made it to the finals of an event which meant I got to swim an individual event at night...I was on the relays since we had a small team and the relays always were swum (Is that a word?) in the evening session of the conference meet (The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin aka CCIW) but the individual events you had to qualify for...I was a distance swimmer who always swam the really long and painful events...Try swimming competitively in a 66-lap event! Anyhow I digress, the event I qualified for the finals for was the 400 Individual Medley (100 yards of each stroke, butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle)...Another DYK about me...I spent my first season out of college as a high school head coach, going 8-3 in dual meets and working with swimmers who set two school records at the Illinois Math and Science Academy under my watch...I do miss the sport everytime I am around it and still have tons of friends from my years...
My Walkout Song:Well my two favorite and most prominently featured bands on my iPod are Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band...As a swimmer the one song that always got me fired up and that I listened to on repeat for the like 10 minutes leading up to my events was Animal by Pearl Jam...I'll take that as my walkout song because it rocks! Feel free to ask any other random questions if you like...
While I'm confessing stuff...Let's tackle the questions the players have to answer for their bios in the game program...Its awesome by the way, if you don't own one make sure to pick it up at Wuerfel Park today for the whopping price of $3...Its worth it...
Hobbies:Broadcasting...Duh! But other than that anything sports related, movies, music, hanging with friends, and working out
Favorite Artist/Band:See above!
Favorite Restaurant:I'm gonna break this down into two categories...Favorite overall is Chili's...I'm so glad they have one in TC...they didn't in my stop in Iowa for two years...favorite on the road is probably Buffalo Wild Wings or Rooster's I believe it was called in Chillicothe...
Player I Admire Most:Two from growing up...Cal Ripken, Jr...who I was so thrilled to finally see play before he retired...I spent a summer in Washington, DC interning and went to an Orioles game but Ripken was on the DL...I got to see him at Comiskey Park (Now know as US Cellular Field...AKA The Cell) in the last game he played in Chicago...While he was at third and not short it was still awesome to see, plus before the game I snuck near the dugout and got to see the top of his bald head close and personal!! The other would be Ryne Sandberg of the Cubs...To further classify my favorite pitcher was Nolan Ryan...Wow! That's about all I can say about him, and even despite all the controversy its tough to not look at all that Roger Clemens has done with awe...Safe to say that pitchers like him and Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who are also among my favorites, are going to be hard to see again so make sure to enjoy it now even though they are past their prime...
If I could Have Any Superhero Power What Would it Be?Most of the guys have said X-Ray vision which would be cool, but I'd kinda like to be like in Harry Potter when they put the magic wand up to their throat and it vibrates across so everyone can hear...that'd be awesome, and flying would be cool too though with my ability I'm sure I'd crash into things...
Some other goodies:
Favorite Baseball Memory:Well the first was visiting the Hall of Fame in the summer of 2006, that place is a shrine to baseball history and I highly recommend making the trip...The second was witnessing a no-hitter at Comiskey Park I think it was in 1990...Andy Hawkins of the Yankees threw a no-hitter and lost because the Yankees made like four errors leading to four runs...I was four rows behind the White Sox dugout for that one...Seeing the baseball at the Hall of Fame for that was pretty cool...Especially since it is not officially recognized as a no-hitter since he didn't throw nine innings, he only threw eight because the White Sox won the game 4-0...The third: This is actually the coolest baseball experience I've had with the atmosphere and all that jazz...Attending a game of the World Series in 2005...Yes I'm a Cubs fans but I have no idea how I got tickets to Game Two fo the 2005 World Series but it was the game that Scott Podsednik hit a walk-off homer and Paul Konerko hit a tying grand slam...Seeing the mementos from that series in the Hall of Fame was also awesome...The fourth: Speaking of the Cubs...I skipped school to go to a game in September of the 1998 seaon (Kids don't do this)...It was at Milwaukee's County Stadium and Sammy Sosa hit homers 64 and 65 in the game...It was also the day that Brant Brown dropped the flyball in left as the brewers scored four runs in the ninth to win...Visiting Fenway Park was also amazing!!!
Best Broadcast Moment:Hopefully still to come...But in college I did get to broadcast at the NCAA Division III Softball World Series as North Central made it...Winning a regional and having a victory cigar was awesome...I also got to broadcast in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament in 2007 with Loras College losing in overtime in the school's first ever appearance, that was awesome since no one made the trip because there was like four feet of snow falling...Then this offseason I worked for ncaasports.com calling the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament and was chosen to be on the broadcast crew for the Final Four hosted by Hope College, doing pbp for the third place game and second semifinal as well as color on the championship game...
Favorite Ballpark VisitThis is a toughie...I loved Fenway Park for the atmosphere but its tough to beat Camden Yards in Baltimore which I'd say is my favorite...When I was at Camden twice I got a tour from an insider who took me around and introduced me to the Oriole broadcasters who talked to me for like 20 minutes, this was when I was still in college and I learned a lot of good stuff...Other places I've been include Wrigley Field, Comiskey Park (Old and New), County Stadium in Milwaukee, and this fall I'll hit up Miller Park for a Cubs game...I've been to Miller Park before but never for a game...Visiting parks is something I'd like to do more often but its hard with me always broadcasting...hopefully I'll get to see them all someday in the big leagues behind a microphone...
Favorite Sport Outside of BaseballCollege Basketball...Bar none! Not the NBA...I feel the game loses something when it hits the pro level where its all about showboating and dunks and plus who can't score when you get to take three steps before travelling is called...I especially like the small college hoops like the Horizon League and the Missouri Valley in addition to Division III, but am addicted to the Illinois Fighting Illini...I love the layup and the three-point shot...Second to college hoops is hockey...Go Blackhawks!!
