A Local Sportscaster, Doing Radio Coverage Of An ...

A local sportscaster, doing radio coverage of an Indiana high-school football game from the stands, used a chart listing the names, numbers, and positions of the players to help him describe the action. Then it began to rain; the ink on the chart ran, and the numbers on the backs of the players were covered with mud. Identifying the home-team players was easy, but the only familiar name on the lineup of the visiting Chicago team was that of Blansky, a linebacker who was up for all-state. As local listeners didn’t know the Chicago players, and his station wasn’t powerful enough to reach Chicago, the sportscaster made up the names of every Chicago player but Blansky. And since Blansky was the only legitimate name, he did his play-by-play with Blansky making most of the tackles.

The next day, the Chicago coach called him to say he had done a really nice job of covering the game—except for one thing. Blansky had broken his leg in the first half and spent the second half in the hospital, listening to himself playing one heck of a game.

Akron Beacon Journal Magazine