Memorable Game Broadcasts

When you sit down to broadcast a sporting event, you never know what kind of day it is going to be.  Marty Brennaman is hosting a reunion with some members of the Duke/Kentucky game in the NCAA Tournament where Chris Laettner of Duke sank an impossible winning basket.  I am sure Marty knew it should be a good game, but there was no way you could dream of that kind of finish.  Andy Koors and I sat down to do a regional championship one year and, as directed to do, we checked in with the local station and set up our link from the Richmond gym to the Batesville station.  Little did we know that the person back at the station turned us off 30 minutes before the game started and allowed Andy and I to call a complete game without ever informing us that we were not on the air.  With the time this person had, he could have walked to Richmond and informed us.  That is not exactly what you expect when you hear yourself in your earphones and you believe you are on the air but no one ever heard you.  This was as “low” as Marty’s game was a “high”.  Fortunately, my memories of many other games were much more satisfying.  The one game this proud dad remembers was calling a tournament win and being able to interview my daughter as one of the participating seniors.  Later, I will recall some other broadcasts that were memorable as well.