This morning begins with birthday wishes to my daughter, Ellen, who took 24 hours to deliver, but once she arrived it almost immediately felt like she’d always been with us.
She hijacked one of my columns in early 2021 when I hit a writer’s block. Her unblemished takes on sports based solely on her knowledge at that very moment of the late evening were just what the doctor ordered for the creative speed bump I approached.
Ellen is part of the most peaceful experience of my life to this very day.
I grew up in a noisy environment, and in my childhood, I was almost always around more people in each room than the fire marshal would likely allow. It was just as noisy during Ellen’s delivery, but a few hours after her 1 a.m. entry into our world, I had no idea I was going to experience such deep peace.
Ellen’s successful delivery was followed by the lights being dimmed, the removal of the heat lamp table, and the exit of doctors, nurses, and family. Shawna finally rested after 24 hours of labor, and bonding with her first born. She, Ellen, and I were left alone for the first time.
Ahhhhh. Peace.
Happy Birthday, Ellen!
My thoughts return to the present, and I’m champing at the bit for some noise instead of peace.
Finally, after one away scrimmage and three straight Warsaw Tiger football road games, I’ll be behind the public address (PA) mic for Friday Night Lights when the Warsaw Tigers host the Concord Minutemen. We’ll honor Tiger football alumni at the home opener. Come and join us Friday night. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
I enjoy PA announcing other sports as well, but football has an incomparable feel to it.
There is no preceding junior varsity contest as there is among other sports, so kickoff time is set. It’s also not on a school night, so the student section is chock-full of Tiger faithful who have been waiting for the weekend to launch about four hours earlier.
There is no issue with a JV game running long and trying to compact pregame content into a tighter space. Even special events are designed to stay in cadence so kickoff takes place on time.
I enjoy, down to the minute, everything we coordinate in the press box: pregame music, the exact time the band and color guard take the field, and the build up among fans as they see dozens of amped up Tigers gridders lining up to make their running entry on to Fisher Field.
Big games, like Mishawaka’s game last year (despite the loss), result in a full press box including the energy of WHME 46 Sports broadcasters and analysts among us. The sectional game against Elkhart last year had one additional streaming TV team, and four radio/streaming stations getting cozy with Channel 46 and several print media members.
These two 2022 football games were the best day ever in the press box. I’ll shamelessly steal the joyous words of SpongeBob SquarePants.
Shawna, my spotter, looked at me while the game was rolling and asked, “How are you functioning in all this noise?”
Shawna pulled up the hood on her sweatshirt so she could block out the sound to hear me from close range.
“How many of my family reunions have you attended the last 29 years?”, I replied. “You know I grew up with five siblings in a 950 square feet box, too.”
PA announcers are in their roles because we like to hear ourselves talk. However, in my case, I also crave the din in the press box. It’s the closest thing to the welcome noise of my large extended family arriving at our gathering destination talking to and over each other in unison prior to the launch of the weekend’s events.
Much like the family gathering, I’m able to filter in the voices I need to hear – Shawna’s results and the scoreboard-clock tandem of Rick Timmons and Terry Burgh - while the rest is a white noise high that I crave in the press box each football season.
I also keep my ear to the ground for a ding from my iPhone for Karin Stefensmeier suggesting/requesting a concession stand announcement, and impromptu directions from Warsaw’s athletic staff, the evening’s “showrunner” collective.
Conversely, it’s too quiet for me when I arrive 75 to 90 minutes before kickoff to prepare for the evening. I remind myself, nonetheless, I need the quiet time to get everything right, and to integrate any special events and announcements into the boiler plate announcing script.
What makes me pine for football season more than anything else?
There are only four or five regular season games, and maybe a postseason game if I’m lucky. The handful of Tiger home wrestling matches make that season also feel like it ends as soon as it starts.
Soccer, on the other hand, is fun, and being plopped right on top of the fans gives the experience at the Tiger Soccer Complex (TSC) its own special energy. I get many more reps in soccer since I cover boys’ and girls’ sides: at least a dozen home games, and a sectional tournament between the boys’ and girls’ schedules.
There is usually only one week throughout the soccer season when the TSC goes dark, too, so I don’t experience withdrawal like what I’m experiencing in football this year.
25% of my PA announcing schedule for this football season will already be behind me when you’re reading next Saturday’s column, ending as soon as it starts.
I get the blues when Fisher Field is dark, so bring on the noise.