Randy Smith: Back In The Broadcast Saddle

I have no idea how many high school games, (football and basketball) I have broadcast on radio in my career. I remember the very first game I did in September of 1971. It was at East High School in Nashville as Hendersonville played East on a sweltering Friday night. I can't remember every game I've done but I can tell you I've done at least three TSSAA State Championship Games in 1977, 1978 and in 1992. That doesn't count the ten title games I did on television just a few years ago. 

The bottom line is this; I've been truly blessed to be able to do this for as long as I have. Last year when the pandemic was really ramping up I decided I would maybe just retire. WFLI where I had done games for three years also chose not to do any games so I said, well maybe this is it. It's probably time for me to hang it up and I was resigned to the fact that the long tenure I had put in place  was finally over. I never thought anything more about it...until this past June.

I spoke with Evan Stone, the president and general manager of WFLI and he asked me if I would be willing to do some games for the station this fall and even asked if Boyd Buchanan would be interested in having their games broadcast. After all, the Buccaneers have had one of the most successful programs in the area for 25 years and there was a real air of excitement coming from Moore Road in Chattanooga. I have been a big supporter of Boyd Buchanan since my son Davey went there from 1997-2001 so I contacted them. The rest as they say is history. The Bucs will be on the air this Friday night as they open the 2021 season at Greenback.

I'm privileged to be working with Chris Barnett on the air this fall. Chris has done Boyd Buchanan football and basketball games on the air for several years now and always did a great job. Of course he will likely have to carry this old guy this year but he's ready for the challenge.

When I started doing games I was just a couple of years older than the kids that were playing. I enjoyed doing the games but never really thought much about the people who were listening. That changed just a few years later as I thought of my broadcasts being more of a service to others rather than any personal satisfaction I get from being on the air. That's still true to this day. It thrills a grandparent or an aunt and uncle who can't get to the game, to hear their favorite players name mentioned on the radio. For those kids who are playing to know that it's now possible for their relatives to hear the games and listen to their accomplishments on the radio is really special. My goal is to do it for a few more years until my grandsons Coleman and Boone take the field for the Bucs. 

It's like the great John Ward once said, "The Vol Network is not the announcers who talk, it's the people who listen." 

I know that's on a much bigger scale but the principle is the same. So it begins again for real this Friday night at 7 p.m. Hope you'll listen.