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Staying Connected Through Sports: The WCHC Sports Podcast
A thumbnail from The WCHC Sports Podcast, a YouTube video podcast series created in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hello, readers!

Wow, it has been a long time since I’ve typed those words. I can honestly say that updating my Holy Cross student blog became much less of a priority once the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted nearly all aspects of our lives, but I am back and (hopefully) better than ever!

Just to reintroduce myself for the sake of new readers, I am a junior psychology and sociology double major with a German minor. I am currently completing courses remotely from my hometown of Rochester, New York. My extracurricular activities include, most notably, serving as co-chair of WCHC Sports, as a member of Counseling Outreach Peer Educators (COPE), and as a tour guide for the admissions office.

Change has been the name of the game over the past six months, and I, as an individual who thrives on consistency, have encountered many obstacles in navigating the “new normal.” Toward the middle of this past summer, however, I realized the importance of continuing to capitalize on the opportunities that Holy Cross has presented. Since so much effort has gone into offering students an authentic Holy Cross experience in the midst of a remote semester, I figured that the least I could do was to change with the times to the best of my ability.

As such, I took a more active role as co-chair of WCHC Sports, the College’s sports broadcasting organization. Seeing as holding the Fall 2020 semester remotely meant there would be no sporting events to broadcast over the radio, my close friend, Rob Murray, and I began our own video podcast series, The WCHC Sports Podcast, to continue to pursue our passion for sports and sports broadcasting throughout the remote semester.

I can honestly say that recording this podcast every week has been a blast. At first, I was somewhat hesitant, as I am not particularly well-versed in sports outside of basketball. I quickly found, however, that recording the podcast offered me a fun, creative outlet to supplement my academic work, and I look forward each and every week to recording Sunday nights with Rob. Just the other day, we actually had our first guest appear on the show, as our good friend and Holy Cross athlete TJ Duggan stopped by to talk about the Celtics, Patriots, and Holy Cross Athletics on Episode 9.

Though nothing can quite compare to the excitement of calling a game live from press row, the podcast has been a highlight of my semester thus far, and I’m glad to have found such an engaging way to keep our organization active from afar. Throughout the next several months, I plan on writing about the many other ways Holy Cross has continued to show its (purple) colors in response to COVID-19.

Until next time, please be sure to check out our work on The WCHC Sports Podcast (linked above). Peace!
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“The Show Must Go On”: An Anecdote

Hello, readers! Three weeks down, three weeks to go until our first break of the new semester! It has been an extremely busy stretch for me academically, but I have managed thus far to remain afloat in all of my classes.

As mentioned in the profile page for my blog, I am a member of WCHC 88.1 Sports. More specifically, I am a color commentator for radio broadcasts of men’s and women’s basketball games. I actually found out about the program primarily through one of its co-president, seeing as he as a fellow alumnus of my high school. WCHC is extremely easy for anyone to join, however, and I would encourage any person with an interest in broadcasting (sports or music) to consider the organization.

Anyway, I have now been on the air for two women’s basketball games, as well as for one men’s game. Even though I’m a color commentator, rather than the play-by-play broadcaster, I put a fair amount of time into preparing for each game. I do brief research into the tendencies, backgrounds, and statistics of the opposing team’s key players. This preparation allows for a more smooth, fluid broadcast, as was the case during the women’s games I’ve called over the past two weeks.

Last Wednesday, my job was to provide color commentary for the men’s game against Army West Point. Unfortunately, however, one of our current play-by-play broadcasters was unavailable for the first half of the game. I figured that we would be unable to broadcast that night, seeing as it isn’t very easy to offer a comprehensive radio broadcast with only one commentator. I then realized, however, that I may not have the opportunity to offer play-by-play commentary again for quite some time. I decided that, as the adage goes, the show must go on! In my very first men’s basketball broadcast, I served as the play-by-play commentator for the first half of a 56-42 victory over Army. I did so without even having a color commentator alongside me. Although this was certainly a challenge, being a dedicated fan and follower of our basketball team certainly paid dividends. The broadcast, though quite far from perfect, went fairly smoothly. Although I much prefer offering color commentary for broadcasts, the experience was valuable for its spontaneity and difficulty nevertheless.

That’s all for this week’s installment! I’ve had a lot of awesome, blog-worthy experiences related to basketball as of late, but I promise I will write about my other experiences very soon. Until next time!