I was the Manager of the Clark high school basketball team from 1991-1995. I filmed all the varsity games and kept score and operated the scoreboard at the freshmen and junior varsity games. It was an amazing experience and the coaches were wonderful. I still keep in touch with both coaches; Danny Murphy is a real estate agent and Kevin Hamilton is the assistant athletic director at Northside ISD. A lot of current High School basketball coaches planted their roots with either Danny or Kevin.
Occasionally at our Clark Varsity basketball game, you may see some very familiar faces. One could’ve been Bob Hill, a former coach of the Spurs. His son was on the varsity team. Another was Buddy Meyer, the former coach at St. Mary’s University. His son was the starting point guard. Or maybe Gregg Popovich…back then he was an assistant coach for the Spurs. His daughter played for the girls team. And, if Clark played MacArthur, you may see George Gervin, a former Spur. His son played for Mac! Pretty cool?
I started summer school for college in 1995 and at that same time, a friend of mine, Marc Hoenig, was starting his radio broadcasting career for the Cuero high school basketball team which is about 90 miles from San Antonio. Marc is my brothers age and his sister is my age and his parents and my parents are best friends so yes, we all knew each fairly well.
Marc was aware that I had statistician experience in high school and he offered me a job as his statistician. The pay was very little and would come from his own pocket. I didn’t even think about it and accepted right away; it seemed like a fun opportunity and something new. I didn’t mind that there would be games during the weekday.
After the Cuero basketball season ended, Marc did play-by-play for high school football games and I went along side him to do stats. I didn’t know a lot about the football rules and stats but I picked it up as I watched the games.
One of my first football games that I ever worked was at Schulenberg stadium and me, Marc, and Dave Paul stopped for food at Dairy Queen and we all got sick from the chicken tenders!!! My advice to you is “Don’t ever eat regular food at Dairy Queen. Eat dessert only!” Dave is the co-founder of Pluckers Wing Bar in Austin, Texas.
While I was working with Marc, I met Bobby Stautzenberger. Bobby is the owner of RJS High School Sports which is affiliated with the Texas Sports Radio Network. RJS and TSRN broadcast high school baseball, basketball, and football games on the radio and the internet. Soon after I met Bobby, I was officially on the payroll for RJS High School Sports as a football radio statistician. To this day, I still don’t know how I made that transition. Maybe there was a secret auction and Bobby won the bidding!
Bobby and I always work very well together…I know his tendencies!! He likes to be on the right side of the booth with lots of elbow room which means I go on the left side of the booth (it is easy for me since I am right-handed) and that leaves the color dude in the middle (usually that belongs to Tony Franklin). Without asking me, I always grab the starting line-ups for both teams and put some additional but very necessary information on them like height, weight, classification, and number.
Setting up all of the radio equipment is handled by Bobby and on a few occasions, I have had the pleasure of setting everything up (although after many years of watching the boss do it, I can never get it correct). I guess that is why I am not an engineer.
Dude, talk about engineering a radio broadcast, I could write an off Broadway play of disasters…
One game we did at the Spring Sports complex was broadcasted from the visiting press-box and the phone line didn’t work. Bobby and I utilized a 100 foot phone cord (we come prepared) and plugged it in at the baseball stadium press-box. At that same game, it was super hot outside and there was no a/c in the booth and normally we have a 3 man broadcasting crew, but that night we had more as they were being trained for stats and broadcasting. When it ended, I was so happy to get in my car and takes my clothes off (OK, it was just my shoes and socks) and blasted the a/c!!!
In 2010, Bobby, Tony, and I worked a Judson vs Steele Knights game in Schertz and the phone line didn’t work. I was running around like a maniac with Robert Lehhnoff (the athletic director) trying to find a remedy. Ultimately, we had to move all the radio equipment to the main area of the press-box where we were able to use the stadium phone line but there was no room for Bobby and Tony; we had to ask a few people to move and they didn’t want to give up their prime location! We missed the first few minutes of the game, but when the game was over, it was a great and exciting broadcast as Steele defeated Judson in overtime on a two point conversion by Tommy Armstrong. But, I along with many Judson fan still don’t think Tommy ever crossed the line. I had a great vantage point from where I was standing…I had my glasses on and the press-box is close to the field; Tommy was 3 inches short!!!
One thing I do is hang the radio and TSRN banners. Over time, I have become a master banner hanger thanks in large part to duct tape and wire ties.
Last year, we had a game at Farris stadium and normally at that stadium I hang the banners underneath the scoreboard but for this particular game, I diverted and hung it on the opposite side and let me tell you, it was extremely windy and when I got back in the booth, they were taking bets on when it would fall and fly across the field. I was 99 percent confident that it wasn’t going anywhere, but all throughout that game, I had one eye on the field action and the other eye watching that banner…cause I knew that had it broken off from the duct tape and wire ties, I would be the one chasing it down the field and probably stopping the game for a few minutes (man, that would’ve been a viral YouTube video) . But, that never happened!! I actually had a hard time removing it after the game ended.
I am sad to say that I lost one TSRN banner. Actually it wasn’t lost, it was swept away by a wind storm and thank god it didn’t happen during a game. It was at D W Rutledge stadium and Bobby and I were the last ones to leave the stadium and they already locked the gates so I had no way of getting on the field to take down the banner and well, when I came back the following week, it was gone…stupid wind!
I have gotten better and better each year and am overjoyed when other radio crews request to work with me or when other radio crews breath a sigh of relief when they see me!
I worked for ESPN radio in 2001 for the Alamo Bowl. I also worked with Jeff Watts Production for a state championship game in 2006 that was broadcasted live on the internet only.
This year marks my 17th with RJS and TSRN! Holy Crap, that is a long time; almost half of my life. Is there a Hall of Fame for Stat men?
On Monday, I will tell another wonderful tale of how I got started as a television statistician.