Eric Rueb has the 'write' stuff, but can he broadcast a high school football game?
WARWICK — Don’t go viral. Good or bad, don’t go viral.
That's all that was on my mind last week when I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something I’d never done before — work as a color commentator for a high school football game. I figured my rudimentary knowledge of football teams with my understanding of the teams playing, plus my ability to never shut up, would make the job easy.
It wasn’t.
I’ve listened to color commentators at all levels, from watching the NFL on Sundays to catching live streams of high school games staffed by professionals and students alike. My unwavering confidence has allowed me to think I could easily step in, handle a game and be awesome.
After my debut on Fans Only Sports Network last week, I’ll have to settle for patently mediocre — but it was fun finding out where I stood.
They've actually put me on TV before
I’m not a newbie to broadcasting. I’ve done spot duty for the NFHS Network on field hockey and lacrosse, working beside the incredibly talented Jake Levin. When WPRI started using me for hits, Morey Hershgordon — who’s now at Channel 7 in Boston — taught me how to take my frantic style and sharpen it a bit. This fall, it’s Taylor Begley’s turn to rein me in, and as each week’s gone by, I feel like I’m going from “crazed madman” to “overexcited human.”
Doing two minutes on live TV is something I’ve gotten more comfortable with. Doing a full broadcast is not.
One year, I sat in the Cranston Stadium press box listening to Cumberland coach Josh Lima do color for a Hendricken-La Salle Super Bowl. It was incredible. As soon as teams broke the huddle, Lima diagnosed what the offense was in and what the defense would do to respond. He was quick, concise and offered genius-like insight. Those are not words I’ve associated with myself.
I sought advice from those I trust. Coworker Bill Koch isn’t shy about directing me, and since he’s basically the smartest person I know, I listen. Nick Coit, the ABC6 sports director who’s the hardest-working man in the state, also told me what I needed to hear.
Be me. Stick to what I know. Don’t get out of my comfort zone.
The pitch
When the idea struck, I reached out to Ron Robert, the founder, CEO and president of Fans Only Sportz Network, which has become the state’s leader in high school sports broadcasting.
The plan was to sell the idea, find a date down the line and prepare for that. It would have to be a game that worked for both my schedule at The Journal and at the network, so it might take some time.
It took maybe 30 seconds. Robert saw Ponaganset at Pilgrim as the lone football Thursday football game, has a relationship with Pilgrim coach Blake Simpson and said that could work. Perfect. I had less than a week to prepare.
Planning, not perfect
I had grandiose ideas of calling Simpson and Ponaganset coach Dave Caito to get some information about the season and making those cool depth charts I see all the broadcasters post about on social media.
I did not do those things.
Instead, I rolled into Pilgrim High School armed with Koch and Coit’s advice and everything I knew about the teams. I always enjoy when people tell me it’s impressive how much I know about teams, but I fake a lot of it. Throw in a tidbit, say a name or two and add a football cliché and you sound smart. I wish I knew more.
I arrived at the field about an hour before kickoff and Simpson and Caito were both gracious with their time as they prepared for what was a pretty important game for both teams. I grabbed depth charts and checked on pronunciations. The last thing I wanted to do was go viral for saying Ponaganset lineman Jack Spych’s name wrong.
I took care of my normal pregame duties for The Journal — I still had a story to write that night — before making my way to the bleachers to meet the crew.
FOSN is everywhere. It has a contract with the City of Cranston and broadcasts games for both East and West, but in the playoffs, it broadcasts games for just about everyone. The folks at the network really care about the product they put out, and that's not necessarily true for every high school broadcasting outfit.
As someone who cares about high school sports in Rhode Island, things like knowing how to pronounce the school's name matter to me.
Matthew Jolles is FOSN's vice president of operations and also serves as its No.1 play-by-play broadcaster. For this game, he was handling the board to make sure the show ran properly. I’ve run into Jolles all over the state, so seeing a familiar face certainly helped my confidence.
Tim Duffy was handling the play-by-play. He’s a 2022 URI graduate and is getting his start in the business. The thing that stood out to me with Duffy was how incredibly relaxed and calm he was while I was so jacked up, I was ready to run through a brick wall.
He was also prepared. Had stats and notes on both teams, depth charts and a sheet to keep stats. I knew I was in good hands.
Showtime
If you asked me what I said during the broadcast, I would have no idea. I sort of black out in these moments and the second the words are out of my mouth, they’re forgotten.
I remember freaking out when Ponaganset’s Robbie Grenga threw a dot to the left pylon for the game’s first score. I remember asking aloud what Pilgrim was doing going for it on a fourth-down play that became a Jack Coffey touchdown.
I also remember having fun.
Hershgordon told me something that has stuck with me, something I tell kids when I interview them after games. When you talk, keep it short, and if you feel it getting long or off track, just stop talking. Your partner will take over.
I felt like that happened all night. There were more than a few moments where my sentences weren’t sentences. I stopped and Duffy was there to pick up the play-by-play. I booted Lyric Picard’s last name all night because for some reason, my dumb brain wanted to call him Pollard.
Apparently, the good outweighed the bad.
Jolles, Duffy and Robert were all incredibly complimentary during and after the game and said I’d be more than welcome to join them again. At games over the next two days, random coaches, fans and officials told me they enjoyed the broadcast.
Perhaps the best message was one passed on to my wife from the parent of a Ponaganset player who said how thrilled her son was for getting a mention on the broadcast.
The verdict
I’m not Josh Lima, but I didn’t totally stink, so that’s a big win as far as I’m concerned.
I understand my limitations as a broadcaster. My voice isn’t great — and next to Duffy’s baritone, I sounded like a child — and my Rhode Island accent occasionally pops when I get excited. I don’t know X's and O's like a coach or someone who played the game.
But I avoided going viral, which is huge. By the second half, I felt comfortable because I listened to the people I talked to. Coit's advice stuck in my head — I was myself. I had fun. I stayed in my comfort zone.
So now on Sundays, when I’m watching football, I can listen to whoever is doing the broadcast and say, “I could to that.”
On second thought, I’ll just stick to writing.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence Journal's Eric Rueb tries broadcasting high school football
