Wanted Dead or Alive: The life of a Announcer

Callan McClurg
Dec 11, 2015
4 min read

SAN DIEGO, CA: Early mornings, late nights, constant travel, wear and tear. Just a few of the many attributes that define both a brutal and sometime hardcore lifestyle lived by not just the athletes that we watch and root for, but also for a group of talented people who bring us all the action over our Television screen or on our Radio dial, the hard work of the Sports Announcer sometimes flies off the radar and I would even say sometimes isn't as much appreciated as it should for these people who put in the time and effort just like athletes to bring you the games and action that you love. Living up to the title, it's a lifestyle lived by many, who are now Wanted Dead or Alive.

For me, sports announcing as a career seemed inevitable. When I was four, I remember watching a sportscast on our CBS affiliate, KFMB Channel 8 and telling my parents that’s what he wanted to do when he got older. From there I practiced announcing until it got on everyone's nerves. From announcing The Price is Right on television, my brother’s little league games or even the games I actually played baseball in. Naturally I’d get yelled at by mom and dad, and my coach, like, ‘Man, play the game, don’t announce the game.’ But that’s just where the love for broadcasting came in.

I officially started my sports announcing career when I was 16 in 2010 for a Junior Hockey Team based out of Escondido, located roughly 25 miles North of me. My schedule load was announcing a 23 home game schedule with games held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday with game times ranging from 11:30am, 7:30pm and 8pm for all three days. That first season was a real eye opener for what my lifestyle would become, set up/tear down equipment, announce the game, postgame dinner with team, go home, sleep, repeat everything again.

I would continue with the team until the I called off returning to them before the start of the 2015-16 season. Five (5) seasons of set up/tear down equipment, announce the game, postgame dinner with team, go home, sleep and repeat everything again was officially in the books. Not only was I offered a better announcing position during the offseason, but the constant travel to and from each game was becoming a problem to the point of when I cut back on doing all three games over a weekend to either just one or two at max because the toll it began to take was becoming a burden.

Fast forward to the present day, I now announce at Point Loma Nazarene University for Five (5) different sports which include Volleyball, Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer, Women's Basketball and Baseball, along with a six (6) day work week (excluding Sunday due to the School's religion protocal). Not to mention the days when there is doubleheaders and even tripleheaders where there would be two or three games per day adding on to the wear and tear on the body, mind, and of course the vocal cords.

In spite of the heavy burden that is the the day in and day out grind of announcing, it's a rewarding grind as well, everything from being appreciated by both players on the teams I work for, but more importanlty the fans of the teams that I work for have reached out to me via social media to say Thank You or show their love, support, and their compliments for everything else that I've done.

As I look back and try to put into perspective about how far and how truly gifted and talent I am to do what I do, it keeps awake until the early morning hours about how incredible this journey has been. Everything from the days where I used to use a remote control as a microphone to announce The Price Is Right at age four (4), announcing the games in the outfield while I was playing the game, announcing at Qualcomm Stadium at age ten (10), to where I've come now...

Announcing for or covering six (6) teams, hosting two radio shows, and being on the cusp of officially becoming a PROFESSIONAL is beyond my imagination. I always hear my friends tell me that they're waiting for the day when they'll be able to turn on a sports TV station or radio station and when they see my face or hear my voice they'll all say "HEY! I KNEW HIM BEFORE HE WAS FAMOUS!!"

As always, I want to say THANK YOU to all of you that have and will continue to give me all of your love and support. I'm humbled and moved daily by the amount of feedback I receive from all of you with your words of encouragement and love. Not only does it put a smile on my face, it adds more fuel to my burning internal flame that keep going strong everyday. Without your love and support, I wouldn't be as successful as I am today.