Play-by-Playcast

Mike Curto is one of the most respected announcers in Minor League Baseball and the voice of the Tacoma Rainiers since 1999.  In this week's episode he discusses: - His climb through the minors, including his time in a defunct Independent League - His tastes of the Major Leagues - How he calls a game and how he preps his scorebook - Watching Jon Miller operate in the booth Follow Mike on twitter @...

Mark Minner took over as the voice of one of college basketball's premiere programs at just 23 years of age.  But the Butler grad fit right in with his new role as the voice of the Bulldogs.  Minner has become a voice Indy sports fans rely on all while he holds down a seperate full-time job simultaneously.  On this episode we talk his life with Butler, winning over fans etc at a young age, how he...

Imagine you're calling one of the biggest college football rivalries in the country. One team is attempting a FG on the final play of regulation.  Did you remember to check to see if your team had a man deep to return it?  What would you say if that deep man ran the kick back for a game-winning score?  Would you be ready for one of the biggest moments in college football history? How would you cal...

Mark Boyle is one of the steadiest voices in the NBA...and one of the league's easiest listens.  Always in control, Boyle's an absolute artist when it comes to play-by-play.  On this week's episode he describes what makes good play-by-play, how often he listens to his own work and what he listens to, calling Cape Cod League baseball, working solo or with a partner for hoops, the early days of WFAN...

Todd Ellis became the voice of South Carolina football in 2003 as the former quarterback of the Gamecocks.  A previous member of the USC radio team, Ellis took over the PxP chair in 15 years ago, learning the reigns from Gamecocks legend Bob Fulton.  On this week's pod Ellis describes learning from Fulton, growing as a pxp announcer, how his former player background influences his radio role and m...

Bill Mercer is one of the absolute giants of the play-by-play world.  The former voice of the Dallas Cowboys was also the first voice of the Texas Rangers.  He also called games for the White Sox and was on the air to cover the JFK assassination in addition to what he might be known for most....his play-by-play of World Class Championship Wrestling.  Bill Later became the voice of the University o...

Wes Durham is on the podcast this week to talk about calling a Super Bowl, calling an historic Super Bowl, the influence of his father, what makes good football on the radio, workling in the technical side of football to one's play-by-play, expanding one's command of the english language, the differences of working in television and much more. Joel also dives into his experience broadcasting Cross...

Mark Champion is the longtime voice of the Detroit Pistons and before that the Detroit Lions...and before that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  But his career didn't start on a play-by-play path.  On this episode he takes us on the jounrey, describes what it's like calling Barry Sanders 3-yard runs, talks about his famous Dinsey World voiceover and much more.

Jesse Goldberg-Strassler is a wordsmith, the ultimate wordsmith.  He's a writer who just so happens to talk on the radio, the ultimate painter with words.  Jesse's passion for what he does drips off everything he says.  The voice of the Lansing Lugnuts, the class-A affilate of the Toronoto Blue Jays, Jesse is also the author of two books on the language of sports (The Baseball Thesaurus and the Fo...

American Pharoh winning the Triple Crown is easily one of the top sports moments of the 21st century so far.  Larry Collmus was there to tell us all about it.  Calling horse races since he was 18, Collmus worked his way up the ladder until he, in 2011, got the call from NBC to take over for Tom Durkin as the voice of the Triple Crown.  The three races are three of the biggest sports days of the ye...

Lanny Frattare spent 33 years as the voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates and now teaches at Waynesburg State in Pennsylvania. Over the course of his career he witnessed everything from Barry Bonds to Willie Stargell and Bob Knight throwing a chair.  This week we visit all those things, where he was when Sid slid and really dive into the mechanics of a good baseball broadcast.  It's a fun wonky edition...

Professional wrestling (or sports entertainment) has a play-by-play broadcaster.  He's an important and iiconic (see what we did there?) part of the broadcast.  Everybody knows Jim Ross yelling "Good God almighty! He killed him! As God is my witness he is broken in half!" It's edited into highlight reels of other sporting events all the time.  It's an important part of the pro-wrestling experience...

Ken Daniels has spent 21 years as the telvision voice of the Detroit Red Wings, coming to the states from Ontario and Hockey Night in Canada. The author of the book "If These Walls Could Talk: The Detroit Red Wings," Daniels recounts and dives deeper into some of the stories and experiences of the book and of his career.  Topics range from working with his idols in Canada, jumping to the NHL witho...

Tim Roye has been the voice of the Golden State Warriors on radio since 1995. In that time he's seen some incredible basketball...and some not so incredible basketball.  Tim talks about describing both ends of the spectrum, his attention to detail on the air, how he made his way from the northeast to the west coast and his love for radio at a very early age.  Follow Tim on twitter @warriorsvox.

Kate Scott is a pioneering female pxp voice working with the Pac-12 Networks and hosting Pac-12 Today on SiriusXM radio.  In 2016 she made her NFL debut, filling in for Ted Robinson on a pair of 49ers preseason games.  A soccer star in high school, Kate went to college at Cal and got the journalism itch, working across mediums and across the Bay Area, building her profile to the rising broadcaster...

Andy Masur has been the pregame host of the Chicago Cubs. Then he was the voice of the San Diego Padres.  Now he's back in Chicago...this time across town on the southside.  It's been a wild ride and Masur joins the podcast to walk us through his trip to the Major Leagues and back home.  We'll also break down what makes a good baseball broadcast and we'll talk Sister Jean.

Brent Stover has been with CBS Sports Network for over a decade serving as the ultimate jack-of-all-trades.  One of the network's top anchors, Brent also calls many of its top pxp assignments.  This week's epsidoe dives into a lot of what makes a great broadcast on TV, calling non-traditional sports, maturing and coming into your own and, of course, his thoughts when he received his first CBS blue...

Matt Chazanow is in his third year as the voice of the Washington State Cougars.  He previously worked full-time for IMG in North Carolina and before that, part-time for IMG while also piecing together barista work to make it in broadcasting.  Chaz breaks down his efforts to chase after his goals, what turned him on to broadcasting, not going to Syracuse for broadcasting...but winding up on that p...

From the Olympics to the NFL on NBC to anchoring at WKYC in Cleveland and the play-by-play voice of the Cleveland Browns, Jim Donovan has seen the broadcasting world from several different angles.  On this week's pod Donovan discusses working in the NFL, charting his path to becoming the Voice of the Browns, working in TV and getting back to the PxP world and more.

Just who does John Rooke work for?  That's always the question.  A veteran of more then 30 years in the sports broadcasting industry, Rooke has spent much of it as the basketball voice of the Providence Friars and the PA voice of the New England Patriots.  In addition to that he's been seen and heard on radios and televisions calling a wide variety of sports across pretty much every level of compe...

Eric Hasseltine became the voice of the Memphis Grizzlies in 2005.  A native of California, he's called Memphis home since 2001.  Hasseltine originally joined the Grizz as a pre and postgame host before he took over pxp duties upon the tragic passing of Don Poier in 2005.  Hasseltine discusses his beginnings in the business, his move to Memphis, Poier's influence on him, filling Don's shoes and mu...

For 39 years Joe Tait was known as one of the best PxP voices in the NBA.  But he was more than that.  Tait may be best know for his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he also spent much of his career doubling with the Cleveland Indians and spent significant time with the Cleveland Rockers of the WNBA.  In an hour conversation Tait discusses the hallmarks of his craft and how he approached it,...

Steve Martin has been the first voice of a Charlotte-based NBA basketball team...twice.  He was the first radio voice of the Hornets...and then was with the New Orleans Hornets...and then was on TV when the Charlotte Bobcats launched.  He was still with the team when it came full circle and the Bobcats became the Hornets again.  Steve breaks down how he goes about calling games, preparing for game...

Dave Flemming cracked the ranks of the Major League broadcasters at just 26 years of age when he joined Jon Miller in the Giants radio booth.  Since then he's cemented himself with Miller as one of baseball's best radio duos and also taken off on the national stage with ESPN.  Flemming talks about his rise in broadcasting, how he's a little different then most in that regard and how he calls a gam...

Jones Angell followed in the massive footsteps of Woody Durham when he took over as the Voice of the Tar Heels in 2011.  Since then Angell has settled into his role. most recently calling two UNC trips to the men's basketball national championship game.  On this week's pod Jones talks about those two Final Four trips, the call that he feels helped establish him in his job, his relationship with Du...