I was 8 years old, sitting nestled in the corner of my bedroom with my eyes glued to a huge Sony box TV. I was playing NHL 2K8 on my brand new Playstation during a snow day, and I started to broadcast the game I was playing, trying my best to impersonate the great Mike Emrick, a legendary hockey announcer for NBC – the voice behind some of hockey’s greatest moments.
This is when I began to realize sports journalism was my passion, and it has been ever since that day.
I would sit in my room for hours, playing game after game, broadcasting until my parents would finally come into my bedroom to explain that they had heard enough. It was usually something along the lines of, “Shut up and go to bed, Mike!”
Heck, I would even go as far as keeping track of stats on players so I could use that information in my broadcasts. I would also mute the broadcasters in the video game so I could focus on myself. It was my own virtual world. I was the new Mike Emrick for a few hours each day, and nobody could tell me otherwise.
As I got a little older, my dad would take me to more and more sporting events in the greater Milwaukee area. I can remember eating at the media buffet and visiting with Aaron Simms, the play-by-play announcer for the Milwaukee Admirals, a minor league hockey team. When summer rolled around, I would also get the chance to visit the Chicago Cubs broadcast booth when they were in town. My dad’s college teammate and former Major League Baseball pitcher, Jim Deshaies, would let me come right up to the front of the booth and try on his headset. I can remember thinking to myself, “Maybe one day this could be me,” as I gazed off into the baseball diamond at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Now here I am. A sophomore journalism major at St. Bonaventure University, tirelessly spending the majority of my weeks interviewing, writing, editing and helping out with the production of many St. Bonaventure athletic events on ESPN+. I’m doing a lot more than I ever imagined myself doing as an 8-year-old kid sitting on the floor of his bedroom, broadcasting a video game as if it were real.
And honestly, I wouldn’t want it any other way. To me, there is nothing better than the thrill of sports journalism. Sports journalists get to talk to the coaches and athletes that mostly every fan dreams of talking to. It’s a true pleasure. And there is nothing better than posting that story you worked so hard on and getting feedback from friends, family and professors, even if its negative feedback – you can’t please everyone.
And then there’s the thrill of putting on a headset, preparing to broadcast a live sporting event. Whether it’s high school athletics, college athletics or professional – I can imagine the feeling is all the same.
I was fortunate enough to get that feeling as I stepped into the broadcast booth twice this past October, as I got the opportunity to broadcast two St. Bonaventure women’s soccer games on ESPN+. I couldn’t help but to think back to my youth as I threw on the headset, listening to the countdown to airtime – mind racing with excitement and “Don’t screw it up, Mike. People are listening for real now.”
Taking a deep breath and acting as if I had a Playstation controller between my sweaty, trembling hands, I got in the zone again. Just as I did so often in my youth when I was alone in my bedroom with nobody listening. I can’t wait for the next opportunity to do the same.
This week, St. Bonaventure University announced its plans to add a bachelor’s program focused in sports media. I would like to personally thank the university and Aaron Chimbel, the dean of the Jandoli School of Communication, for making this happen. One of the biggest reasons why I came to this university to pursue sports journalism is because of the prestigious history and alumni that have come out of the Jandoli School. With the addition of the sports media program, I feel as if I will be able to further enhance my skills and shift my focus more towards what I have always dreamt of doing with my life.
Dreams can start anywhere. For me, it was in my bedroom on a cold, snowy mid-winter day in Grafton, Wisconsin. So if you haven’t turned the page on me yet, I encourage the rest of you to find that moment of discovery. You can find it anywhere, and it comes in a lot of different forms. For me, it was playing a video game – a mindless video game.
Well, it’s time to go on to my next challenge. There’s much left to do, and I can’t wait for whatever those things may be.
By Mike Hogan, Sports Editor
hoganm17@bonaventure.edu
