It’s how you play-by-play
Listening to Dan Dickerson so expertly and casually broadcast another Detroit Tigers baseball game on Sunday reminded me of how many well-called Ontario Hockey League matches that I have tuned in to on the radio over the years.
To be sure, the OHL has its share of exceptional play-by-play announcers who deliver the game on radio to those who can’t or choose not to be at the rink.
In Sault Ste. Marie, Gerry Liscumb Jr. is part of a short-but-impressive list of radio announcers who have called Greyhound games since they entered the OHL back in 1972.
The legendary Harry Wolfe was the first Greyhound mainstay play-by-play man followed by Gino Cavallo and now Liscumb Jr. All three brought different styles to the rink to be transmitted via the radio airwaves.
The late, great Wolfe rarely flinched or stuttered when calling a game and was known for his methodical delivery and use of well-worn, albeit catchy cliches.
Cavallo had a smooth approach and did not get overly-excited, except perhaps when calling all of those OHL championship and Memorial Cup games of 1991, 1992 and 1993. Talk to Cavallo in person or listen to him on the radio and it’s one-in-the-same — nothing artificial or forced.
It was Cavallo who had the task of replacing the legendary Wolfe, who had been calling Greyhound games since well back into their Northern Ontario Hockey Association days. But Wolfe passed the pickles, er torch, to Cavallo, who took to the play-by-play mike with professional ease.
Liscumb Jr. certainly makes Greyhound hockey an event worth listening to on Soo radio station Rock 101. Full of energy with a high-stakes, in-your-face delivery, Liscumb Jr. definitely belongs in the same quality class as it relates to Greyhound play-by-play with Wolfe and the quasi-legend Cavallo.
And there are a number of other highly-regarded play-by-play announcers who still populate the OHL airwaves and who can be heard via the broadcasts of the various radio stations.
Jim Gilchrist in Kingston, Larry Mellott in Guelph, Steve Bell in Windsor, Fred Wallace in Owen Sound, Stew Kernan in Sudbury and Matthew Sookram in North Bay are a mix of seasoned announcers who combine experience with a strong, solid delivery that does not have one reaching for the off button. Sookram, while much younger and less experienced than the others, has nonetheless emerged as a top play-by-play man.
A relatively-new play-by-play man is Joey Battaino, who just started calling the games for the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit within the last year. I am familiar with Battaino from when he did the play-by-play for the erstwhile Michigan Warriors of the North American Hockey League and let me say that this guy is a true talent who can combine the pre-game, between-periods and post-game commentary with the actual play-by-play and not miss a beat — with barely a pause.
On a different note, there is one major thing about sports broadcasters that stands out to me. That is, unless you actually know sports, you are not going to come across as credible.
For example, back in my old CKCY Radio days that began in 1975, there was a clear distinction between sportscaster and newscaster. If you did the sports, you didn’t read the news. And vice-versa. It’s not like today when actual radio sportscasts are a thing of the past.
At any rate, there was the odd occasion, back when CKCY and CJIC were ruling the Sault Ste. Marie radio airwaves, that a newscaster would fill in for a sportscaster, say on a Saturday or a Sunday morning. But to me — and to many who listened to the news-guy-trying-to-do-sports thing — there was a lack of credibility that was evident.
Of all the radio newscasters who I worked alongside or against in the mid-to-late 1970s, the only one I knew who could leave the news desk and pinch hit on a sportscast and sound credible was Joe Petrolo. Why? Because Petrolo actually knew — and still knows — a lot about sports.
I still think of high-end newscasters from back in the day fumbling through a sportscast — guys like David Gazer, Sam Kaplan, Karl Sepkowski and Jim Cronin — and it still makes me cringe.
You would think I would be over that by now. Not quite though, I guess.
Once a sportscaster, always a sportscaster.
Great memories for sure there, Randy! I always think back to the E M Swift article in SI when Harry Wolfe supplied commentary about Wayne Gretzky ! Swift said that you could hear Wolfe’s play-by-play over the sound of a running shower! It was so true!
Well stated about Harry Wolfe, that is for sure, Chris.
Randy
We can not forget Ottawa 67s Dave Schreiber one of the best in the game also still does the odd game since retiring
Dwayne,
Good point, man, though I must admit that despite all the games he called and still does (for both the 67’s and Ottawa Senators) I have never heard Dave call a game.
Which is “my bad”, I suppose.
Regards,
Randy
From the first game to the last game that I was a guest when he came to Espanola in the 60’s and then to Sudbury in the 70’s and on I always felt I was learning from the master in Harry Wolfe. He always promised a pair of shoes for appearing however they never appeared. A great experience. I have to agree that Bruno and Gerry have continued on a great tradition in the Soo.
How can you not forget Joe Bowen…the voice of the Sudbury Wolves during the 1970’s? The legendary “Miracle on Minto Street” or when he called the return of the return of a young Jimmy Fox called up from the North Bay Trappers. Bowen….was the best!
Wow , some of the names Randy!! it’s been a while. I agree with Joe Petrolo, he has a great voice, he could do anything, great guy to work with too! My all time has to be Harry Wolfe though, no one was as smooth and when I worked in a call centre here in New Brunswick mid late 2000s I was monitored and they said I used filler words…..I told the person , I worked in radio and almost everyone uses well, uh…etc. There was only one person who never used them…..Harry Wolfe I said! Yes, he was the best Randy!