View From The Booth by Brien Martin, DKCU Play-By-Play Announcer
Greetings, DeKalb County United Fans! It’s time, once again, to STAND UNITED!
Last season, United had a very promising start, scoring seven goals in an indoor friendly against Old Bhoys FC of Indianapolis, an established club with a nice history. We started 2018 with two wins from three games and sat atop the Midwest Central division. But, one win over the next six doomed us to a fifth-place finish in the division. A scintillating, 1-nil win over Union Dubuque in the season-closer, gave all of us a glimmer of hope for 2019.
This year, we’re in a division with four new opponents: Cedar Rapids Inferno, Madison 56ers, Croatian Eagles, and Milwaukee Bavarians. Union Dubuque returns to make up the sixth team in our division. We open our UPSL slate of matches on May 4, right here in DeKalb, against the expansion Cedar Rapids Inferno. Match time is set for 5 PM.
Looking forward to our second season with the opening friendly against NIU coming up on April 26. As always, I’ll be in the booth to bring the action into the homes of our supporters, our player’s families, and our friends.
Livestreaming is a great way to connect with the public. There’s a variety of reasons why someone isn’t able to get out to the NIU Soccer Complex for a match, but those reasons shouldn’t prevent them from watching on their PC, laptop, tablet, or phone on MyCujoo.tv … if you can’t join us in-person, please be sure and join us via MyCujoo on the "Live" page of our site.
During the season, I’ll give my perspective on the most recent game played and, whenever possible, talk about an upcoming match. And, I’ll write about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that happens in that magical place known as the press box.
One of the things that may not be evident in listening to either myself on the livestream, or listening to my partner-in-crime in the press box, PA announcer Nik Myles, is that we both put prep work into what we do.
Nik has a script that he reads from, with specific reads done at specific times before, during, and after the match. He also has the freedom to ad-lib and “play” with the crowd as he performs his duties. Perfectly English, Nik brings a dry wit and sarcasm to his announcing that I have, on many occasions, fought not to laugh at during the broadcast.
As for me, I script out my opening segment and my closing; everything else from the opening kickoff to the game recap at the end of the match, is all based on what’s happening at the time. I do try to stay true to English commentators like NBCSN’s Arlo White, and guys like Jon Champion, Martin Tyler, and Ian Darke, men whose ability to paint football with words has helped the sport’s reputation as “The Beautiful Game”.
Additionally, I do look up each team’s run of form over the past five matches (where appropriate), and refer back to any previous matches between the clubs played as a backdrop for the day’s action. I have team sheets that the starting lineups and named substitutes are listed on so that I can keep up with player names during the broadcast, and I keep stats on fouls, corner kicks, shots, shots on target, etc., so that I can update you, the fans on the numbers of the match. About the only thing we can’t give you is possession time, as we don’t have the equipment necessary to do that … so I’ll estimate best as I can given what I’m seeing on the pitch.
In all, both Nik and I put additional effort beyond what you hear on match day, because we want your in-game and livestream experiences to be as good as we can make them. We do this, not just because it’s our respective jobs (volunteer, I might add), but because we both love the game of football, and we both believe that community-based football clubs are AWESOME … we both want to invite you into that community, and to become a huge part of the support necessary for United to succeed, long-term.
So, until next we meet … STAND UNITED!
