Let me veer off here from the normal for a minute or two today and tell you about some football games, basketball and baseball, and some venues that I have broadcast out of. I had some other experiences from the world of sports. Some of them were not even at the venues that it should have been.
The first one I remember was at the First Baptist Church gymnasium. Their gymnasium! I was called by Logan Cummings who was our pastor back in the ‘60’s. He said, “Dallas, we’re having a basketball game tonight and we would like for it to be broadcast on the air.” I said, “Hang on and I’ll call you back in a while.” So, I went into the boss’s office and he said, “Absolutely as long as we get a little money out of it.” I decided we’d do it. He said, “I’ll get you fixed up”. I went over there with a bag of equipment and set up just like a basketball game. I called it just like I did other basketball games. Logan was my “color man” and we talked more about what the church was doing than we did what happened on the court that day.
The coliseum is where I normally broadcast for the Howard Payne games and some others. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed it or not, maybe it’s still there, but there’s a little bitty room up at the very top of the coliseum that had a table in it. They thought that would be a good place for me. I didn’t ask them why but low and behold I went one night and set up in that booth and did the game. I don’t know what was wrong with it really but I didn’t like it. They took me down after one game – one game.
The next place they found for me was in a little glassed-in room on the floor level just to the side of the goal. That was a one-night broadcast as well. Next there was the table on the risers, first on the entrance side then across from the entrance where it is now. A much better set-up.
I broadcast from all over the coliseum…..but outside, that’s where it really got crazy………..I did a Howard Payne game from my little Ford Ranger, because they didn’t have a press box or anything else at that time. Mike Blackwell was with me and we did the game together.
Speaking of that, we were in Breckenridge one night doing a baseball game. I think it was a playoff game. We started that ballgame with a regular table and everything outside. It was horrible, I mean horrible, wind-wise. We were having a dust storm and it didn’t do anything to the ballgame but play it. We ended up pulling my pickup up where we could see and we ended up getting most of the innings in out of my pickup. Wind and dirt all over the vehicle!
I can remember one more. Don Newbury called me one night. He said, “Hey, are you interested in doing some basketball game from the Old Yellow Jacket Gym?” It was a small facility and if you did a big ballgame, it was crowded to say the least. Anyway, Don said they have something coming in, it’s a Private School State Championship or something, He said, “You don’t have a color man and you don’t have anyone to do it for you so I’d like to do it myself”. I’d like to come in and add something to the ballgame.” This ballgame was really a good ballgame. We set up in the top of Old Yellow Jacket gym. It was me doing play by play and Don Newbury doing color. Acting like a President of a University most of the time but anyway we got the ballgame over with.
You know, I could go on and on and on, I just wanted to let you know that I actually did a lot of ballgames from places that weren’t really for broadcasting ballgames. I think that’s basically the majority of them, but I’m glad that I don’t have to do those any more.
Until next time, so long everybody.
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‘Out of the Box’ with Dallas Huston is published each Monday morning at BrownwoodNews.com. Dallas was the radio voice of the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne Yellow Jackets for more than 55 years. He currently is Pastor of Center City Baptist Church and hosts a Men’s Bible Study in Brownwood on Monday evenings. Your comments are welcome at [email protected].