I’m back home from the NSMA Hall of Fame Weekend in Salisbury, N.C., and it was awesome. I made new friends and connections, picked up some pointers, and came back to South Dakota reenergized after a tough month of things not going my way.

These stories don’t require a full blog or podcast, but I wanted to share a few with you anyway.… Read More

I chat with Burch Antley from Columbia, South Carolina about his career path, our experience at the NSMA Weekend/ODT 2016, What big names we met, what we learned, and what he’s going to do with the mic that Doc Emrick and Chris Berman spoke into.… Read More

Part of becoming a great broadcaster is having a great vocabulary and finding ways to vary your verbiage. That is why a regular feature on this site will be “Announcer Alterations” where we take short clips of pre-existing play-by-play synced to video and come up with five different ways to call the same sequence of events.… Read More

After five years, I’m no longer the radio voice of the Presentation College Saints. I’m not excited to write that or about writing this post in general. In fact, I considered just ignoring it on this site. However, I made a commitment to creating a place where people could find a transparent window into my journey and philosophies as a sportscaster.… Read More

We chat with John Nicholson Director, Newhouse Sports Media Center.… Read More

www.sacredheartbahamas.org As we go through the “Announcer Alterations” I will keep an up to date glossary of all the terms used.   I also want to encourage others to include their suggestions on different ways to vary vocabulary and I will include those suggestions in the glossary as well.

Football Glossary

Runs violently: Bursts; Barrels; Blasts; Explodes; Erupts; Breaches; Surges; Punches; Cannonballs; Trucks; Charges; Hedgehogs; Assaults; Storms; Batters; Punishes;  Collides; Crashes; Thunders; Bulls; Churns; Bulldozes; Steamrolls; Plunges; Plows; Bashes; Gallops; Crushes; Pounces through; Careens; Bows; Tanks; Rumbles; Propels; Bashes; Rambles;

Run up the middle: Up the gut; Down the chute; Down main street; In the thick of it; Down their throat; Behind the center; Into the heart of the defense; Straight downhill; Belly play; Up the seam; Into the pile; Into the teeth; Inside run; Tries the interior; Between the tackles; Among the big eaters; Punches through the line;

Spin Move: Corkscrew; Whirls; Cyclones; Like a tazmanian devil; Circle button;

Runs to the outside: Turns the corner; Finds the edge; Outside the tackle; Sweeps R/L, Loups R/L;

Follows a blocker: With a convoy; With teammates paving the road; Follows the leader;

Churns the legs: Keeps the train chugging; Keeps the butter churning; Pumps the pistons; Chops the cleats; Tills the turf; Pumps the bellows; Keeps the wheels rolling; Pushes the pile;

Runs lightly: Dances; Tiptoes; Water bugs; Spurts; Squirts; Slips; Squirrels; Slithers; Snakes; Glides; Darts; Scoot; Squirms; Wiggles; Jukes; Jives; Shimmies; Jitterbugs;  Tap-dances; Worms; Scampers; Sneaks through; Drifts R/L; Swivels;

Makes A Quick Move: Dodges; Shifts; Shuffles; Jukes; Breaks the ankles of; Jives; Plants the foot; Cuts on a dime; Breaks the ankles of; Pops; Snaps;

Breaks a tackle/makes a guy miss: Pops free; Sheds a tackle; Escapes; Powers through; Eludes; Evaporates; Melts away from;

Runs through Traffic: Weaves; Navigates; Maneuvers; Winds; Zigzags; Meanders; Roams; Thread his way; Picks through; Searches for room; Dodges oncoming traffic; Searches for real estate;  Finds daylight;

Runs at an angle: Angles; Slants; Diagonal; Curving; Projecting; Sweeping towards; Banking; On a trajectory towards; Sweeps; Peels;

Avoid Pressure: Evade; Elude; Escape; Slips away; Puts on the grease; Tuck and runs; Vanishes; Evaporates; Liquefies; Houdini’s;

Accelerate: Pedal to the floor; Steps on the gas; Presses the NOS button; Eating dust behind; Runs like he stole something; Burst of speed; Zooms; Zero to sixty; Turns on the jets; Jumps to warp speed; Comes out of the blocks; Zero to sixty;

Breaks Away From The D: In front of the pack; Making a bid for freedom; Running towards the light; Green grass in front; Pulls away;

Throws a short pass: Zips; Throws a dart; Fires a bullet; Lazers; Rifles; Pegs; Peppers; Throws the fastball; Shoots; Put mustard on it; Zooms; Whiz; Whips; Rockets; Streaks; Beams; Flits; Whisks; Fireballs; Missiles; Aims an arrow; Wings; Threads the needle; Uncorks; Wobbler; Throws a strike; Dumps off; Checks down; Thrown with high octane gasoline;

Thrown into a tight space: Tight window; Dropped in a bucket; Threads the needle; Squeezes in; Dials in; Pipes it in;

Throws an arching pass: Rainbows; Loops; Lobs; Lofts; Throws a duck; Soft toss; Throws it with touch; Throws it up for grabs; Throws a jumpball; Wobbles; Flutters; Launches a satellite; Floats; Corkscrews; Spirals;  Airs it out; Air mails; Dials it up long; Bombs; Rainmaker; Launches into orbit;

Makes a catch: Grabs; Snatches; Pulls in; Snares; Plucks; Corrals; Reels in; High points; Rips down; Cradles; Corrals; Hauls in; Fingertip catch; Snow cones; Over the shoulder; Snags; Pinches; Gloves; Completes; Retrieves; Shoestring catch

Breaks Up A Pass: Separates body from ball; Deflects; Bats away; Gets a hand in;

Interception: Picked off; Taken away; Plucked out of the air;

Loose Coverage: Cushion coverage;  Space at the line; Giving a buffer;

Tackles: Blows up; Clothes lines; Ropes; Cuts down; Chops the legs; Stops in his tracks; Slams; Pummels; Crushes; Wallops; Belts; Undercuts; Punishes; Mauls; Planted; Wrestled; Mugged; Stuffed;  Upends; Dumps; Rocked; Smacked; Toppled; Derailed; Dragged down; Bullldogs; Forced to the turf; Wrapped up; Constricted; Crunch; Smothers; Pounds; Pastes; Spills; Jolted; Roughed up; Touched up; Repels; Stood up; Tripped up; Ripped down; Dumped; Roped down; Hog tied; Puts a blanket on him; Slams the gate; Muscled; Bottled up; Corked up; Dropped; Levels; Mows down; Capsizes; Rolls over; Bludgeons; Bullied; Jammed; Pops;

Gang Tackled: Engulfed; Into a blockade; Rounded up; Swarmed; Into a wall; Surrounded and pounded; Mobbed; Swallowed; Gummed up by the defense; Runs into a host of defenders; Into a collection of defenders; Barricaded; Puts up a road block;

Describing the football: Pigskin; Pig; Rock: Pill; Oblong ball; Leather; Pebbled Leather; Laces n’ leather; Spaces n’ laces; Hyde;

Hands Off: Gives; Prescribes the pill; Dishes; Puts the bread in the basket; Puts it in the gut; Makes the transfer; Dispenses the pigskin; Doles; Makes the exchange; Distributes; Swaps; Deals to; Forks it over; Quarries the rock to; Transfers; Feeds; Tucks it in;

Forced Fumble: Pried away; Wrenched out; Ripped away; Punched out; Stripped;  Jarred; Pokes it away; Discards; Swipes; Spits up the football; Plied from;

Recovers A Fumble: Picks up the loose change; Scoops; Rounds up the loose pig; Holds on for dear life;

Pile of players fighting for a fumble: Mass of humanity; Avalanche of men; Dogpile; Peels off the pile; Stacked on the ball; A hill of humans;

Takes the snap: Takes the exchange; Takes from center; Swap from center; Switch from center; Plucks the pigskin; Snatches the skin; Hikes the hyde;

Breaks/ avoids a tackle: Burst through; eludes; escapes; Houdins; Evades; Tears away; Rips free; Powers through; Gets greasy; Slips away; Shrugs off; Shakes away from; Slides away; like a gecko breaking it’s tail;

Made FG or XP: Clears the crossbar; Parks it between the lines; Parts the pillars; Splits the spires; Down main street; Between the pipes; Two hands in the air from both officials;

Kicking the football: The boot; Swings the leg; Swings the shoe; Swings the slipper; Lowers the lever; Foot meets leather;

Crosses The Goal Line: Pierces the plane; breaks the plane; Inside the pylon; Breaks through the membrane; Crosses the chalk line; Gashes the goal line; Punctures the plane; Punches it in;

Tie Game: Knotted up; Even on the board; Dead heat; Playing to a draw; Wash; All square; Carbon Copy;

Running Back Position: In the sidecar L/R; Offset L/R; Dots the I;

Tight Coverage: Press; Blanket; On him like a cheap suit; Shadows; Mirrors; Straightjacket; Draped; Like white on rice;

The End Zone: Paydirt; The House; The heezee;… Read More

A major part of why I posted my Blueprint to Broadcasting Success was so it could be helpful to other broadcasters. I also posted it for selfish reasons to hold myself accountable for putting in the extra work to get better. As part of that accountability I’m going to post monthly on how closely I stuck with the plan, the challenges faced, and how/ if I’m hearing improvement in my self critiques.… Read More

Eliminating clichés is something we all strive to do. I’m writing this article on Memorial Day, and in honor of the holiday designed to honor military members who died fighting for our country, I’m going to make the case that comparing sports to war may be the single dumbest of these clichés.

To illustrate my point, read this excerpt from a Daily Mail article where a WWII survivor describes the storming of Normandy Beach:

For Harold Baumgarten, a 19 year-old Army private from New York, the invasion started badly and quickly got worse.… Read More

We are moving up the release of the latest podcast because the last day to sign up for the NSMA Awards Weekend is June 1st.… Read More

Part of becoming a great broadcaster is having a great vocabulary and finding ways to vary your verbiage. That is why a regular feature on this site will be “Announcer Alterations” where we take short clips of pre-existing play-by-play synced to video and come up with five different ways to call the same sequence of events.… Read More