Philly’s sports announcers are hoping to get their voices back soon | Mike Sielski

It has to be addictive, doesn’t it?

The camera and arena lights are ablaze, and thousands of people can’t wait to hear your voice, and it’s not so much ego that starts your adrenaline flowing and gives you that rush of pleasure as it is the joyful ritual of it all, the joy of knowing that you always wanted this job and now you have this job and you get to do this job every night. Everyone is watching and listening and wants you to speak in the way that only you speak.

Why would you want to do anything else?

So … what do you do when you can’t feel that tingle anymore? What do you do when you’re a play-by-play or public-address announcer, when your livelihood is predicated on what you say and when and how you say it after the ball is tipped or the puck is dropped, and there’s no one around to listen?

What do you do when the games are gone and the crowds can’t gather and the only people around to take in your He scores! or It’s good! are your spouse and your kids and the neighbors who are careful to keep their distance?

You wish a boy a Happy Birthday.

You hope the better days get here fast.

You call a soccer match played by toys.

You do what these guys did.

Even while he was still calling Sixers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, Zumoff would get an email or a Twitter post every couple of weeks from a fan with a request: Can you send a birthday greeting to my kid? Can you announce my wedding party’s entrance?

Those requests have come in at the same steady pace during the coronavirus pandemic, including one last month from Matt York – who lives in Somerton, not far from where Zumoff grew up – for his son, Luke, who was turning 9. So from his couch, while wearing a PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESE sweatshirt, Zumoff recorded and sent Luke a message, complete with a couple of his catchphrases:

“Listen, I know,” he said. “You’re bummed. You can’t go outside, play with your friends. But hey, we’re going to get through this together. And soon, you’ll be coming in for a landing and turning garbage into gold. Luke York, Happy 9th Birthday, young fella!”

As a kid, Zumoff regarded Philadelphia’s sports and news voices then – Bill Campbell, Gene Hart, the anchors on the local news stations – as worlds away from him, gods. Because he did, he said, these days he tries to make himself as accessible to fans as he can.

“Being a celebrity is not something I identify with,” he said. “As I got closer to my goal, I never forgot I was the fat kid growing up in Northeast Philly, who was awkward and had these dreams. If you had looked at me, you would have said, ‘No way.’

"But I want to be accessible. I want to be able to connect with people. I’m no different than them. If somebody reaches out to me to jazz up somebody’s birthday or wedding, I love doing that. It’s something I really enjoy. The more love I can spread, the happier I can be.”

Leno is 31, a native of Richboro, an alumnus of Council Rock High School South, an up-and-comer in the business who has called games for the Big Ten Network and ESPN3 and who handles the Union’s matches on 6ABC and PHL17. He’s a people person, and he has the ambition of youth.

“I’m a relationships type of guy,” he said. “I’m always the person to leave an hour after the event ended.”

Connections matter to him. He took on a project to form them. Each week during the pandemic, he has hosted a Zoom-call Q&A with a well-known sports broadcaster. The call is open to anyone in the business or aspiring to be – first-come-first-serve once Leno posts the details on Twitter.

Recently, ESPN’s Sean McDonough was a guest. The week before that, it was Kevin Harlan of CBS, TNT, and Westwood One Radio.

“It helps me immensely,” Leno said. “I’m preparing for these calls like I would for the Union or World Team Tennis, like a broadcast. They help me speak to a mass audience I don’t know, just like on TV.”

The only current Flyers employee who has been with the team since its inaugural season of 1967-68, and the longest-tenured PA voice in the NHL, Nolan is a familiar figure at every Flyers home game. You can find him holding court in the Wells Fargo Center’s media dining room beforehand, and you can’t miss him during games.

Back when there were games, that is. On behalf of the Flyers’ marketing department, Nolan recorded a video message to thank Peco employees for their work during the pandemic. The company is one of the franchise’s sponsors and part of one of Nolan’s most familiar lines: “And the Flyers are going on the PECOOOOOOOO power play…” Nolan wishes he’d have a chance to say it again soon.

“I miss it terribly,” he said. “It’s not as if the season ended and you’re out of the playoffs – bingo. It just stopped with the hope it would start again. It slammed shut. Suddenly, there are no more games. It wasn’t Game 7. It was Game 63 along the way. I really enjoy going down there. Socially, it’s a big part of my life, talking in the press room, see the fans. I miss it a lot.”

Since the pandemic began, McCarthy has posted 22 episodes of “10 Minutes with TMac,” in which he interviews coaches, writers, and other people involved in sports, on the Phillies’ YouTube channel. Among his interview subjects: Jay Wright, Phil Martelli, Jimmy Rollins, and Dawn Staley.

“It’s a throwback to my radio days,” said McCarthy, who has also been calling televised simulated games on PlayStation 4. “You try to give everybody a respite and a taste of sports. It’s small, but it’s something.”

Without soccer, Casey got creative, with the help of his 14-year-old daughter, Alayna. She figured her dad could make announcements about … other stuff.

The result has been Casey’s YouTube video series, “Life Without Soccer,” which he and Alayna record on his phone, then post online. The first video? Casey walked to the mailbox, opened it, and announced to the neighborhood that the family had received no mail. In another, he “introduced” the contents of his refrigerator as if they were the Union’s starting 11.

The coup de grace, though, was the “Copa de Cuarantena,” a stop-motion video of a “match” inspired by his 6-year-old daughter, Ana, and her toy collection. The match pitted “Peanuts FC” against “Real Princess.” Zoe Zebra, of Peppa Pig fame, was the referee, and she gave Snow White a yellow card for an illegal tackle of Linus. Snoopy scored the first goal.

“Wanted to create some levity for people,” Casey said. “We’re all just fortunate to have our jobs at this point.”