Announcing

I'm starting to realize God has blessed with so much.

Among a hot wife who loves me, a dog, a home, a job, friends and family who care about me, I've also been blessed with a voice.  I don't mean a voice to speak or to sing.  I mean a voice to be an announcer.  I didn't realize this until a few years ago.  I had the opportunity to fill in for our basketball announcer at the high school I worked at, and realized I really enjoyed it.  Besides having the best seat in the house, I got to call all the action as it happened.  It started out announcing a game here and there, and then the following year it became more frequent.  At this point I didn't start to think about announcing as a job so to speak.  It was just something to do to make some extra money.

I was honored to be asked to announce those basketball games, and people were always really nice by complementing me on my "performance".  I just shrugged it off, hoping to not think to much about it because I knew I wasn't going to go anywhere with it.  Summer of 2010 was when it started to become real.  I had received a phone call from our Athletic Director.  He informed me the previous football announcer was not going to be returning in the Fall, and he wanted to know if I would take the mic for the 2010 football season.  I of course said yes.

I started to get the hang of it.  Working with my spotter, calling the numbers and names of those involved with the play.  Making sure I was being articulate and enunciating correctly I began to fall in love with being a public address announcer.  Again, people would graciously complement me and for the first time individuals were telling me I should think about doing this announcing thing more often.  I kindly accepted the complements and kept doing my thing.  Moving from football to basketball season I continued to practice and fell even more in love with what I was doing.

One late winter's day I heard on the radio the Chicago Cubs were seeking a new public address announcer for the 2011 season.  "Oh my gosh!", I thought.  I could be the next voice of the Cubs!  All I had to do was read a script and make a YouTube video.  Easy enough.  So I did.  I began to draft dreams of becoming a professional public address announcer.  ~Spoiler alert - I did not get the job, nor is the video still online, sorry.

Through that experience I learned what a professional baseball team is looking for in an announcer.  Most of which could not be found in my audition video.  Out of curiosity I Googled* public address announcing jobs to see what else was out there.  Maybe there was some truth to all those who told me I could be a professional announcer.  The second hit was a link to the Windy City Thunderbolts, a minor league baseball team out of Crestwood, IL.  The site told me to show up to the stadium on a certain day and they would be hosting live auditions right then and there.  So I showed up.  One of 30 or so and the only one in a shirt and tie I patiently waited my turn.  While I waited I sat and listened to those going ahead of me.  As you would expect there were those who were pretty good and there were those who were just plain bad.  I knew at that point I had no right to judge them myself, but when you hear someone you know if they're good or not.  Finally, after about 15 people I got to go.  I sat in the chair in front of the mic overlooking the field.  I focused, took a deep breath, and belted out the best starting lineup I could come up with.  Long story short, I became a top-three finalist and eventually got the job.

I spent my summer announcing 48 home games between May and September.  I absolutely loved it.  I got paid to watch baseball.  How awesome is that?  I'm honored to say I will be returning Summer of 2012.  Stop on by if you're in the neighborhood next summer.

Since then I've become The Voice of the Hawks (title given to me by the Athletic Director) of a high school in the district I work in.  I've been announcing their boys and girls basketball games, and look forward to another great season.  Maybe in the future I'm announcing a professional sport.  Anyone out there reading who knows anyone in the professional sports world, I'm available after February 2012.

The point of all this is not to just say I announce and I love it.  As I mentioned earlier, I've been blessed with a voice.  Some are blessed with the ability to throw a football 50 yards, others are blessed with the ability to build a space shuttle, others are even blessed with the ability to take amazing pictures.  I, on the other hand, have been incredibly blessed to be a public address announcer.  I am thankful for the voice God gave me, even though I don't like listening to myself on a recording (am I the only one?).  I pray daily that God uses my voice for good, that I can honor Him in using my voice in whatever I'm doing.  It's a constant reminder for me to use my voice wisely.  Without it, I can kiss my dreams of being a professional goodbye.  May it be a reminder for you as well to use whatever gifts you've been blessed with to honor Him.

*Googled is not a proper word.  I get the red squiggly line underneath it.