Chalin Cahlik

TU had a disappointing year on the hardwood and certainly not something they would have liked to send out such fantastic seniors on.  TU was 6-19 on the year and 4-16 in the GLIAC, but sent off Bre Nauman and Deidre McKay two seniors on the team that brought depth and leadership to their roles.  I was in a different role for this team as I was not a broadcaster, but a statistician and responsible for getting both Matt and Russ the numbers they needed for a smooth transition each half. 

 

General Duties:

As noted I was not a broadcaster, but that does not mean you do not play a big role in the broadcast.  Ensuring both Matt, Russ and the visitor broadcaster have all the material they need before, during and after the game is necessary for a successful broadcast.  I was also the sideline reporter for the women’s team doing interviews with the assistant coaches Drew Snyder and Corey Kaufman.  Understanding the statistics software is incredibly time consuming and difficult because of how many codes you must memorize when calling the game.  My job as the “caller” was to relay what happened during each play via a series of codes to someone typing on the computer or the “stat-er”.  An example would be if number 34 took a jump shot, missed and number 23 of the opposing team rebounded the ball the code would be: J34, RD23.  J for jumper and RD for defensive rebound.  This process is difficult to learn between all the different ways to score such as: layups, dunks, jump shots, 3 pointers and other items like blocks and steals.

This job took me the longest to learn, but became one of the most rewarding because of what it brought to my love of broadcasting.  I would learn things such as team rebounds which is when the ball goes out of bounds off a shot and nobody receives credit for the rebound or when someone gets an over the back foul call the rebound goes to the player that was fouled. 

All these scenarios allowed for me to learn more items about the sport and become a better broadcaster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlight: TU vs Wayne State University

In a mid-season game that already showed the Dragons struggled to stay afloat, TU welcomed the Warriors of Wayne State to the Gilmore Student Center on a Thursday night game.  TU started off lackadaisical, but that seemed to be the norm on the season as they couldn’t seem to start strong on many games.  The second quarter was a much different story as the Dragons shot 72 percent from the field as they trailed by three 39-36 heading into halftime.

The Dragons came out shooting well in the 3rd quarter, but mistakes and turnovers plagued the team giving the Warriors many free points off turnovers.  TU tied things up in the 4th quarter and headed to overtime via a Deidre McKay free throw.

72-72 was the score heading into overtime and with McKay and Miller firing on all cylinders TU came away a 3 point winner 79-76.

 

Time Spent:

Setting up and tearing down a basketball broadcast is incredibly time consuming and often times keeps you far past the end of the game.  When everyone has left the gym you are still there putting things away and ensuring they get put in the right box the right way or things will not fit.  Broadcasting equipment is also incredibly fickle and we saw that throughout the year with certain plugs going bad and needing to be repaired.

I truly enjoyed the season and even though many of my weekend plans were altered because of the ending times of games, I wouldn’t have done anything different.