Author: breckriley

Broadcasting high school football is an adventure. You never know where you are going to be. I’ve broadcasted from 100 degree press boxes, rotten wooden platforms, and from the bleachers. Friday night was the latter.

We went on the road to Winona. Normally, they have us a nice spot in the press box, but due to all of the Coronavirus precautions, we were forced to set up in the visitor bleachers.

All things considered, it wasn’t so bad. For Labor Day weekend in Mississippi, it wasn’t that hot. We had a lot of room to set up and move around. We could see also well enough. And it’s really fun sitting with the fans because you can hear EVERYTHING. Sometimes that’s fun and other times I have to turn my mic down so some of the more “colorful” language doesn’t make it on air.

All in all, setting up in the stands isn’t so bad, so long as we don’t have to do it every week.

Highlights of the night:

• I started the night by seeing one of my best friends and former college roommate. He lives less than a mile from the Winona stadium, so he pulled in to the parking lot right before the game. He’s getting ready to move out of state, so it was good to see him.
• The broadcast went great. We didn’t have any issues at all. Which is great given that we didn’t have any electricity and were running off of battery power. Credit to our producer Donald for handling things back in the studio.
• Even though our team came up on the losing side, the game was very entertaining. It was a back and forth affair for most of the night. Kosciusko showed just how many playmakers it has with 4 different players scoring touchdowns. I liked the effort I saw from the team. They never showed any signs of giving up.

For the first time in 7 months, I broadcasted a game!
Even if it was a jamboree/scrimmage. Even if our equipment decided it didn’t want to cooperate. Even if it rained on us right at the start of the game.
It did not matter. We were broadcasting football.

We traveled up the Natchez Trace (always a great drive) to Maben, MS as Kosciusko faced off against East Webster. This would be the first look at the Whippets under a new coaching staff. But for me, and I imagine a number of fans who made the trip, the way the team looked mattered very little. This night was all about returning to our way of life. Something that we do every Friday night. And it was the same for East Webster and fans.

The stands were packed. People were talking to each other. The band was playing. The cheerleaders were cheering. Normalcy.

I don’t know how many more games we’ll get to broadcast, because of the rules for mandatory quarantines and all that, but last night was fun. So if it has to last me a while, I think it will.

Highlights of the night:

• I got to see former Kosciusko High School band director Jesse Yates as he is the head director at East Webster now. I had been texting him all week, asking if he could speak to the coaches to find out where we could set up to broadcast. He was able to secure the penthouse (roof of the press box) for us.
• Kosciusko looks much improved over last year. There were some hiccups with the new offense, but we knew that would be the case because the team didn’t have a spring season to learn it. With the playmakers they put on the field, I have no doubt they’ll get it down. On the other side of the ball, the defense looked great. They flew to the ball and there are a couple of guys I’m so excited to watch for the rest of the year.
• When we first went live on the air, I got goosebumps because it felt so good to be back on the air.

I was FINALLY able to get back to the booth last night for a football broadcast. I was just running the camera for a video stream, but it was still a return to some semblance of normalcy.

We were in Madden for Winston Academy vs Leake Academy. Per state orders, each football player, cheerleader, etc. only go two tickets to give out to parents/family. So, the stands weren’t very full, which made for an interesting experience.  You could hear EVERYTHING that was said on the field. From coaches screaming at refs to players talking to each other, it was very different.

But the broadcast went as well as it could have for our first one since March. No major problems and the folks at Leake Academy were very gracious that we were able to stream the game since many of the fans couldn’t attend.

All in all, it was a fun time and I’m so glad to be back doing what I love.

Highlights of the night:

• Working with Melvin Wooten. He began his 18th year broadcasting for Leake Academy last night. In all the years I’ve been at the station, Melvin and I had never worked a game together, so that was a treat.
• Leake Academy has a good team. They dominated the game from start to finish. Welch is a hoss at RB. He looked like Mike Alstott running over folks.
• Funny story: Remember how I said we could hear EVERYTHING that was said on the field? Well that includes hearing a player for Leake after he took a shot in his…uh…”business.” He comes to the sideline in visible pain. A coach yells something at him and EVERYONE in the stands hears him respond with “NAH, COACH I WANT TO HAVE KIDS SOME DAY.” Laughter ensued.

Steve Azar called into the show to tell us all about his newest album “My Mississippi Reunion.”

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