Story time: football

For three seasons, 1998-9 and 2000, it was my treat to cover Levelland High School ball games. Football, baseball and hoops. Our station also covered some games involving area teams. Earlier, I promised to tell some ball stories, and here are a few more.

I want to say the first event took place in 1998. LHS at Andrews, home of Shaud Williams and the Andrews Mustangs. Shaud would eventually sign as a running back with Texas Tech with Spike Dykes, then leave when Mike Leach came to town. He eventually wound up at Alabama, and I've been able to play that card a few times, telling the locals in Tuscaloosa that I got to see him way back when.

Anyhow, anyone who knows me knows that I'm chronically 15 minutes late for everything, including games. And at the station where I started out as half of the full-time staff, I was now the full-time staff. So I never had enough hours in the day. Not a good combination for someone like me.

On this night, I was strangely ahead of schedule, and arrived at a good hour to get ready for the Friday night broadcast. I found a booth, which seemed rather spacious, and started to set up. My control board, legal pads, dry-erase markers, all ready. Everything in its place. I felt good about the upcoming broadcast.

Then the Andrews broadcast team showed up and proceeded to tell me that I had set up in their booth. Swell. It was four against one, and it was *their* home, so I had to pick up and move to a broom closet of a broadcast booth, where things were suddenly much more cramped, and my broadcast partner, Mel Gierhart and I were basically shoulder to shoulder. And I ran about 75 feet of cord for my crowd mic, and the closest place to put it was the entrance to the press box, where we heard the crowd, sure, but everybody coming and going.

So I kind of felt like a moron. It's one of those things I wish I could do over.

As for the game, Andrews took the opening kickoff and absolutely drilled the clock, taking the opening possession down the field for a touchdown, taking ten minutes off the clock, enroute to a 35-7 win over Levelland. I don't remember the number, but I'm sure Shaud Williams had a nice game.

One other quick story. LHS played Estacado on a Thursday, due to field availability. So that left an open Friday for us, which we filled with a broadcast of Sundown at Hale Center. Roughnecks vs. Owls. I don't really recall much about this week 10 matchup, other than seeing a great friend from college at the game. Jacky married his college sweetheart and moved to Midland, where he was on the coaching staff at Lee High School, helping with the first steps of the football career of some guy named Cedric Benson. But by now, I think he was coaching at Greenwood HS, and was up for a scouting trip, since the playoffs started next week.

Anyhow, he poked his head in the window and scared the crap out of me, which was (and still is) completely in character. I responded by threatening to put him on the air at halftime. I believe Sundown beat Hale Center and made the postseason. We did the SHS game the next week, at Denver City, where they lost a lead late and fell in the first round.

So-- that's all for Woodrow's Tales From the Broadcast Booth. More to follow.