Eagle Talk
Ryan Chambers, Chris Blair and Terry Harvin share game day camaraderie on the Georgia Southern Radio Network during their 7th season together.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THIS CAREER?
CB: My first broadcast was at the age of 14 and I spent early Saturday and Sunday mornings signing on at 6 a.m. at my first station. I found my passion calling high school football, basketball, and baseball and even did a high school game from the back of a pick-up truck on the sideline at the 40-yard line, because the school’s press box had recently been condemned. We could not see a thing, just made everything up, which I have been accused of many times since.
RC: As far as radio goes, I started in high school in Milledgeville. I was an o.k. athlete but a much better talker. My father, the smart man he is, encouraged me to take advantage of having a big mouth and would wake up at 5 a.m. on the weekends to drive me to the local radio station to read the news, the weather and the obituaries during the morning shifts. This was back when radio was live.
TH: In college, I was a sports reporter/editor for The George-Anne. Coach (Erk) Russell used to tell me that since I liked sports, was a “pretty good” writer, and I “talked a lot,” that I should probably look into sports broadcasting. Also, I was the basketball public address announcer. I filled in on Nate Hirsch’s radio stations for a few high school games and Bill Edwards gave me the opportunity to do a few games on television after my playing was over (Edwards was the host of the Georgia Southern Football TV Show back in the 1980s).
HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR EACH GAME?
CB: It’s a week long process that starts on Monday gathering information on the teams from the previous week, who they played, the score, etc. I spend probably 12 hours a week preparing my spotting boards with the 2-deep for both teams and adding stats, background information, to make sure we have more than enough information to talk about in a three hour broadcast.
RC: I read the game notes, talk to the coaches and many times, after six years, have pretty good relationships with people at the opponent school, so I try and talk with them too. Mainly I try to be early and pray to not screw up too badly.
TH: Well, I don’t go to David Ball’s Archibald’s Restaurant & Tavern the night before games or Snooky’s for a game day breakfast any more. In all seriousness, having played for this great school, you really understand the history and traditions that are so vitally important to the program. It really comes down to mental preparation, and as Coach Russell would say, your ability to “reach deep down inside and turn it up a notch!”
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE EAGLES THE REST OF THE SEASON?
CB: I truly believe that Coach Jeff Monken is the finest in the land, at any level. He demands excellence from his staff, his players, support staff, heck even the broadcasters and because of that operating procedure, our team is becoming a finely tuned instrument in 2012. The work ethic and pride of our team is at the level of the great teams that put those six flags over Paulson Stadium and this year’s skill, speed and physicality could very well prove to be one of the best in a very long time.
RC: How many ever games we play…take that number, put a dash behind it, and add a zero.
TH: The Eagles will soar through the playoffs and bring home another National Championship flag to the prettiest little stadium in America. Then, Southern Pride will play the hymn “It Is Well with My Soul.”
WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE INTERVIEW?
CB: Probably the interview in the Bishop Field House locker room moments before Coach Monken was introduced as the Eagles Head Coach. There was just a sense of excitement that all was right in the world and option football was returning to Georgia Southern and he was the right man at the right time for this job.
TH: I have several, but I was the first to interview Chris Blair and introduce him as the new “Voice of the Georgia Southern Eagles.”
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST GEORGIA SOUTHERN SPORTS MEMORY?
CB: The two wins over Appalachian State –the one in 2007 to snap the longest home winning streak in the country and the 2010 overtime win, when I think all of us in the Eagle Nation knew at the moment, that Georgia Southern was back to stay.
RC: Andy Moye’s complete game win over Charleston in 2011, and Russell DeMasi scoring against South Carolina State. Both of those guys will probably smile forever telling those stories for the next 80 years and it was neat to be able to help share them on the radio.
TH: There are several: I grew up near Gainesville, Fla., and was a Florida Gator fan. In 1986, my first football game as a Georgia Southern Eagle was against the University of Florida. The National Championships in 1989 and 1990, and Georgia Southern beating Appalachian State – anytime!