Boston Strong to Boston Stronger

Boston strong to Boston stronger.


Just over a year ago those phrases meant nothing.

Today, those words symbolize much more than strength.

They symbolize unity.

A city that is standing strong together and a nation that is standing behind one city.

Be proud and get loud

We will always cheer for victory, or at least some of us will.

Others may need their fan card checked.

When you go to a game, regardless of the sport, bring your enthusiasm, get loud and be proud of your team no matter the outcome.

The fans make the game.

Sure, without players there would be no event to attend, but without a crowd there’s just something lacking.

It’s like glorified practice if there are no “crazies” cheering the team on.

When a crowd is rowdy, it intensifies the atmosphere and brings a certain spark to a team, one that cannot be provided through any other alternative.

Say it’s 4^th-and-18 from the 37 and your football team is trailing by four with three seconds left on the clock.

The pressure is on.

You can see the players scrambling to get the play, helmets clashing, coaches barking orders, but try adding in 30,000 screaming fans.

Suddenly, it seems like there is even more on the line.

Players say it; having the support of the crowd is a big boost to them on the field.

Then what could possibly be the hold up?

When you hear the band strike up the fight song, how can you keep from singing along?

And if you don’t know the fight song, maybe you should take your support elsewhere.

There’s more than just the band though; throw in the cheerleaders, too.

Their purpose is exactly that, to make you cheer.

You could be attending your first sporting event and still know when to cheer because of cheerleaders.

So if you are a fan, but don’t cheer, what’s your excuse?

Unless you happen to be in the press box or on the sidelines, you need one.

Maybe you don’t want to disturb the athlete.

I can buy that for some aspects.

In football, you see fans generally cheer for teams when they are on defense.

At Troy, coach Larry Blakeney has said noise doesn’t bother his offense.

When you are based on signals not calls, noise isn’t a factor.

In basketball, dunks and highlight reel plays bring the crowd to life, but free throw shots can be just as much of a spectacle when looking at fans.

When your team is up to shoot, you can hear a pin drop in the arena, but when the opponent is up to shoot, it’s a screaming match.

Maybe you don’t cheer because you don’t want to make enemies with the other fans in the crowd, especially the opposition.

If they’re respectable fans, they’ll just cheer harder after hearing you.

However, it’s about cheering, not jeering.

There’s a fine line and some cross it, but if done properly, cheering is the best quality a fan can bring to the table.

Maybe you just don’t know the game well enough.

If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s a fan who doesn’t have a clue what they are cheering for.

If you’ve got enough sense to cheer, at least know something about the game.

It could be only the basics, but please, don’t cheer for defense when you’re wearing a shirt supporting the offense on the field.

Cheering may not make or break a fans experience at a sporting event, but if everyone was silent, wouldn’t that be a little bland?

Not everyone has to be the life of the party, but enjoy the atmosphere and take part in the experience.

When in Rome, do as the Romans.

So, to those in the field of competition, just remember, we are with you all the way.

So get out there team and fight, fight, fight and win today.

2013 in review

Family, friends, fans, it's been too long.

Life somehow seems to pop up and all of a sudden, it's a new year.

This year was the best of my career, hands down.

Taking a look back, it's hard to believe all the accomplishments I've added to my resume.

January: I applied for internships and decided I wanted to spend my summer calling baseball. So I sent out resumes and applications and waited. I also got to travel to Montgomery and cover the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic.

January-April: I continued working at TrojanVision in several capacities and expanding my resume. I covered Don Maestri's final season at Troy University and the Trojan baseball team making it to regionals in Tallahassee.

February: I traveled to Union University for the SEJC convention and competed in the on-site TV reporting category and came in second place!

March: I compiled a recruiting video for the Troy University Basketball team and was able to pour time and effort in to making the finished product a success!

April: I was named the Hall School of Journalism and Communications Outstanding Broadcast Major as well as the Best Sports Reporter and Sports Anchor for Trojan Vision!

I covered the Troy University Soles 4 Souls shoe drive and nailed an awesome stand-up with the help of a great videographer.

I received the best birthday present I could have asked for. After lunch with my parents, I got a phone call from Stefano Foggi with the Florida Collegiate Summer League that I was selected as a broadcast intern and would be the play-by-play announcer for the College Park Freedom!

May: I moved away for the summer and left the comforts of home for sunny Orlando, Florida & had an incredible summer full of opportunities and experience!

I also was able to travel to Tallahassee, Florida for the Florida State regional where Troy played and got to go up in the ESPN booth with Adam Amin and see how the pros work! Another great networking opportunity.

Making my ESPNU debut

June-July: With the exception of a few rain-outs (few being a relative term), I had the pleasure of calling nearly 40 baseball games throughout the summer season including working with Tuff TV as a sideline reporter and the play-by-play announcer for the Southeast Collegiate Prospect Showcase featuring the Florida League and the Sun Belt League. I also appeared on the Florida League television show as the College Park Freedom reporter giving updates throughout the season on the team.

Batting practice with the big boys

Shortstop needs a canoe

August: My internship was coming to a close and I got to be on the big stage for the finale! I was able to work as the post-game on-field reporter for Tuff TV's broadcast of the Florida League Championship game at Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida! I was honored pre-game as the Florida League Broadcast Intern of the Year. The Florida League gave me opportunities I could've never dreamed of and I had the experience of a lifetime.

Honored pre-game

Post-game interviews

Post-game with the MVP

Post-game with Head Coach Kevin Davidson

August-November: I returned to school and went back to work at TrojanVision as well as returning as the co-host of Trojan Sports Now, the thirty minute weekly show about Trojan athletics. I have now worked with Jonathan Sellers for three and a half years on this program and will enter my final semester on the show in January.

I worked for the third season covering the Troy Trojans football team for TrojanVision and had the chance to cover some of the nations best including the best quarterback in history (hey, numbers supported it) as Corey Robinson set the national record against UAB with a 93.8% completion percentage.

I traveled with the football team to some beautiful venues including being on the field at Mississippi State, Duke & Ole Miss.

Gotta love supportive parents!

I also tackled a new job this fall and wrote for the Troy Messenger. I was the Troy football beat reporter for the newspaper and contributed features as well as game previews & recaps throughout the year.

I also got the chance to join Barry McKnight and John Longshore on SportsRadio740 as the Troy University football beat reporter and had a segment on the radio each Tuesday morning reviewing the previous weeks game and looking ahead to the next match-up.

October: I covered some of the most incredible football games this season including the homecoming match-up for the Trojans against South Alabama in the most thrilling finish I've ever been on the field for. A performance that awarded Eric Thomas the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week.

I also ran for homecoming queen and although I didn't make homecoming court, I have to say I had the most creative posters of anyone! Plus, I had the football team on my side!

Blakeney was on board!

November:  I covered the Sun Belt Cross Country Championships on the campus of Troy University and had the opportunity to network with some of the assistant commissioners in the league. 

I then partnered with the Sun Belt Conference and served as the play-by-play announcer for the Conference Volleyball Tournament at Troy University. I called six matches in the span of two days including the biggest victory in Troy University's volleyball program history! What a pleasure it was to be able to be on the call for my University's shining moment!

I also got to network with Dave Leno and serve as an assistant for the ESPN3 broadcast of the Sun Belt Championship Volleyball match. Dave provided lots of insight and advice and made the experience memorable!

December:  BREATHED! I finished my last fall semester which means my final football season with the Troy Trojans! It's been such a joy to work with people like Larry Blakeney, Corey Robinson and the entire Troy family!

I worked harder this year than I ever have on my career and the work was incredibly rewarding! I'm thankful for the opportunities I've been given, the people that I've met along the way, and the memories I've made along the way!

Here's a look back to some of the memorable moments along the way!

Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr.

I graduate in May from Troy University and I will then be on the job hunt and looking to make my impact on a larger stage. Here's to 2013 and to what should be an even more thrilling 2014!

The Voice of the Trojans

When it comes to radio sports broadcasting, it’s all about painting a picture, and there aren’t many artists better than Barry McKnight.

McKnight has been the radio play-by-play broadcaster for Troy since 2002 and it’s the job he dreamed of since he was in junior high.

“I thought that being a Division One play-by-play announcer would be the best way imaginable to earn a living,” McKnight said.

“It took a while, and a bit of hard work and patience, but the career has been everything I’d hoped it would be.”

McKnight is the play-by-play broadcaster for baseball, football and men’s basketball at the university but says his job is about more than sports; it’s about the people.

“Ultimately, I'm not there for the coaches, and I'm not there for the players,” McKnight said. “I'm there for the fans who want to know what's happening and want to be entertained.”

According to Chad Simmons, a 2001 Troy graduate and current season ticket holder, McKnight is the only man for the job.

“I can’t imagine anyone else in Barry’s spot,” Simmons said.

Simmons said one of the key aspects of McKnight’s job is keeping fans informed and one way he does that is through social media.

McKnight tweets updates throughout the week reminding fans about upcoming broadcasts and when to tune in for the action.

It’s more than his account of the game though that registers with fans.

“Anyone can call a game, but Barry has a special connection with all Trojan sports,” Simmons said. “It comes across in his broadcasts that he's part of Troy.”

Brian Ross, a local troy fan and season ticket holder, said McKnight’s delivery makes for memorable calls.

“You never forget where you were when you heard those special calls,” Ross said. “Barry takes you from your living room or car and places you in the middle of the action.”

For McKnight, when Auburn and Troy meet on the diamond, it’s an especially compelling game.

He was the baseball play-by-play broadcaster for seven years for the Tigers before his current stint at Troy.

“During that time, I worked with two of the classiest men in college athletics: Hal Baird at Auburn and Bobby Pierce at Troy,” McKnight said. “Only those who have been in college baseball can truly imagine my luck.”

While he lives out what many would picture as the dream job, McKnight says the key to his happiness has nothing to do with outs, scores, or players.

“I’m a broadcaster who happens to talk about sports as a profession,” McKnight said. “That’s all I do, and it’s a blessing to me, but the secret is to make my life about more than sports.”

Who knows? His next calling could be selling records.

Listen up during the seventh inning stretch and you’ll hear that familiar voice leading you in “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

So stand up, stretch, and sing along with the Voice of the Trojans.

March Madness

March madness is certainly named correctly.

This season, much like every other, has been full of upsets, bracket busters and teams that have shocked the world.

For only the seventh time in history a 15 seed beat a two seed when Florida Gulf Coast took down Georgetown.

Florida Gulf Coast has only been eligible for the tournament for two seasons.

Who would have ever dreamed they would take down a powerhouse like Georgetown?

Not many, but I’m sure they had no doubt they would be winning the game.

How are you ever going to win if you don’t go into the match thinking that you will?

There’s no right or wrong way to fill out a bracket.

Really, you have just as good a chance by flipping a coin as you do by spending hours researching each match up.

Kids who pick by color and mascot have just as good a shot as anyone.

That’s the madness of it and that’s also the appeal.

The tournament gives you a reason to be glued in to your television screen and your computer for days.

Locked in, rooting for teams you’ve never pulled for in your life, simply because you picked them in your bracket.

It’s the perfect marketing scheme.

It makes every game seem important to every fan.

No matter whether you have any allegiance to a team or not, if you pick them in your bracket, you better believe you’ll be their biggest fan for one game.

It’s all about peaking at the right time.

Teams that just barely make it in or make it in by winning a conference tournament and getting an automatic bid sometimes have an advantage over teams that have been at the top all season.

Teams like Florida that make it to the conference tournament and struggle can either come in with added determination to prove they really do deserve to be a three seed, or on the other hand, can come in downtrodden and flop in the first round.

There are also teams like LaSalle.

Ever heard of them?

Kansas State didn’t seem like they had and had a difficult battle with them, and eventually lost the game.

Kansas State not unlike Georgetown was expected to be a contender at least to the Elite Eight.

Neither the Wildcats nor the Hoyas made it past game one.

The TV deal that CBS and Turner have currently airs every single tournament game over four different networks.

That’s an incredible amount of basketball in just a few weeks, especially the first Thursday through Sunday of the tournament.

Previously, CBS would air the games and cut back and forth between contests based on which games were the most exciting.

There were certainly advantages to that including the anticipation of knowing what was going on and only having to go to one network to get all the content.

Now, fans have to find TruTV in order to catch some games and it’s been said that one of the biggest upsets of the tournament is finding that channel on the first try.

It’s great having all the games on television, but it does lose a little bit of the luster somehow.

There’s nothing quite like college sports and while football may be king, for at least one month, college basketball rivals the enthusiasm and excitement of football.

Bowl season is special, but even New Years Day bowls can’t top the craziness of the opening weekend of March Madness.

There’s something magical about those 48 games.

Win and you’re in.

Survive and advance.

So let the madness continue.

There are more upsets to be had, more high fives to pass around, and more brackets to burn.