Broadcast Booth - Stories From Inside the Headsets of Play-by-Play

One of the top PBP voices of the NBA, John Ireland, talks about his road to the best seat in the sport, his relationship with Kobe Bryant and the memories of his call of Bryant's final game, following the legendary Chick Hearn, and the fun of fame among some of the the most famous celebrities in the world.

Kevin Eschenfelder, pregame and postgame host of Houston Astros Baseball, Houston Rockets Basketball, and the Play-by-Play voice of Houston Cougars Football, joins the podcast to talk about earning a spot on the Astros Wall of Honor, some crazy nights in the booth of high school football, and the scary moment when he suffered a heart attack shortly after broadcasting a U of H game.

Play by Play voice of OU football, basketball and baseball programs - longtime Oklahoma broadcaster Toby Rowland - talks moving to the SEC, following a legend, writing a children's book, and a funny story about one of his best that turned into one of his worst!

Texas High School Football Hall of Famer and longtime University of Texas play-by-play voice Craig Way shares stories behind some of his legendary calls - like the Longhorns National Championship Rose Bowl game against USC, last second field goals that became instant classics, and the walk off home run to reach a College World Series final - along with some crazy travel scenarios while juggling a schedule that often overlaps. Craig's passion for sports broadcasting carries over to our conversation with plenty of laughs and an "ah ha" moment for one of the top voices in the business.

For more than two decades, Brian Estridge has been known as the voice of TCU Athletics, but his interest in radio and a career in broadcasting began at age 14. Hear the stories of his "pivots" through the pandemic, broadcasting Big 12 college athletics while watching a monitor from home, his prep work and how it resembles the sports he calls, and much more!

One of the great storytellers of our time and a Play-by-Play Hall of Famer - Verne Lundquist, takes us through his incredible career with behind the scenes anecdotes around some of his iconic calls. Verne chats about his early days as a local sportscaster in Dallas, his play-by-play experience with the Dallas Cowboys that included the infamous Jackie Smith drop in Super Bowl XIII, shares why the Grant Hill pass to Christian Laettner was so meaningful to him personally, and his favorite - the Jack Nicklaus putt at the 1986 Masters, and much more. 

Chuck Cooperstein, radio play-by-play voice of the Dallas Mavericks for the past 16 seasons, joins the series and shares the thrill of being part of an NBA Championship run. Coop also talks about the challenge of remote broadcasting during the pandemic, his passion for the business and what's behind NBA Eats.

Longtime voice of the Dallas Cowboys, Brad Sham, joins Broadcast Booth to tell stories from his 40+ year career doing play-by-play for America's Team, as well as an hysterical account of a professional soccer broadcast from Mexico that took extraordinary effort to reach listeners. Brad also shares inside details of his preparation, support of his broadcast team, favorite broadcasters...and some pronunciation blunders he's been known to deal with along the way.    

Joined by Rich Phillips, 20+ year veteran play-by-play voice of SMU Athletics. In this episode, we share stories ranging from homer calls (Rich once won Homer Call of the Year honors) to crazy travel issues to broadcasting through a pandemic (when is a booth more like a shower?). Rich also shares his love of  NASCAR events including an experience as interview host with driver Danica Patrick.

Visit with legendary play-by-play voice of Texas A&M athletics, Dave South, is filled with fun stories and a lot of laughs from his 50-year career calling Aggie football, basketball and baseball. Stories include the change in prep work from printed media guides and weekly news releases to online technology, traditions in the booth, what to do with memorabilia after retirement, how one game can change the path of a play-by-play career, and much more.

John Morris, longtime play-by-play voice of Baylor Athletics joins me for this episode. Coming off the recent National Championship at the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament, John shares what it was like to call his first major sports national title game and all the craziness that followed. Morris also dives into conversation about some of the great moments and people he has had the opportunity to experience and meet along the way.

In the first episode of Broadcast Booth, I'm joined by Steve Pitts, Producer-Engineer of the Texas Tech Sports Network, to learn about what goes on behind the scenes of our radio broadcasts. Pitts has been a part of the TTU broadcasts since the days of legendary voice Jack Dale and throughout my 21 seasons (so far!) as play-by-play voice of Tech Football. Many of the stories inside our headsets start with the man we affectionately call G.O.B. (God of the Booth!).