The radio booth at Rash Stadium was small – a more jaded person may have even called it cramped. The chairs were slightly rickety, the counter was crowded with radio equipment and the heater was on full blast. But the window was everything – 4mm of glass between me and one of the greatest opportunities and best experiences I’ve ever had in this delightfully torturous industry. And as I stood surveying the fans and the players and the coaches, all bathed in the beauty of Kentucky’s Friday night lights, I felt a sense of calm I hadn’t experienced all week.
Where there should have been only excitement and nerves at the prospect of calling my very first football game, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Class5A State Semi-Final between Owensboro High School and Frederick Douglass, there was also an inescapable sadness.
The Monday prior to this matchup, I received some devastating news – one of my close friends and colleagues, a member of our SkyBoat family, took his own life. It came as a complete shock as I had always known him to be happy. I still to this day only have memories of his smile. But as we know, smiles can be faked and emotions can be forged. And as someone who has struggled with Bipolar Disorder most of my life, I know sometimes it’s hard to see a way out of the darkness.
I met Parker Wooden at the Louisville-Notre Dame game last year after SkyBoat President Adrian Beecher asked me to show him the ropes. Parker was eager, excited, he asked a lot of questions and wanted to make sure he did everything right. I will never forget that first game with him because he reminded me why I love doing what I do – seeing the game through his bright eyes brought me back to the beginning and I fell in love with the process all over again. He made my coverage better that year and I never thought to tell him that. Now it’s too late.
Parker was only 22 when he felt he couldn’t carry on. But the impression he made on everyone he came across was that of a much older and wiser soul. He believed in pursuing dreams, he believed in passion but above all, he believed in faith. Which is why I knew I had to go to Kentucky and be on the radio call for the Red Devils-Broncos game with Vic Evans, David Clark, and Stephen Turner – for Parker. He would have absolutely kicked my ass if I missed out on this because of him.
Those of us in the industry know how few and far between true opportunities are. We toil away, perfecting our craft only to face disappointment and rejection again and again. And for women, it’s worse – we fend off advances, sidestep harassment and for those of us extremely unlucky ones, we fight to forget the sexual assault by men too powerful to ever be brought to justice.
But this isn’t a sob story, despite the many tears shed while writing it.
I spent the week after finding out about Parker crying and researching Owensboro and Frederick Douglass and then crying some more. I went on 102.7 The Game ESPN Owensboro to talk about the upcoming matchup, flexing my in-depth breakdown muscles. I talked to players and coaches and read as many things as I could. I got up at 1:30 am Friday (after sleeping exactly three hours) to drive two hours to the airport and catch my early-morning flight. Seven hours and one layover later, I made it to Evansville, Indiana. One of the guys from the radio show picked me up and off to Owensboro we went. The rest of the pre-game is a bit of a blur – stopping by the radio station, changing/getting ready in a bathroom (my fellow sports ladies know this all too well), heading to the stadium, and getting set up in the booth.
It wasn’t long before the whistle blew and we were off. The first quarter did not go terribly well for me – I was unprepared for how quick the call was, not to mention Vic and Stephen had incredible chemistry. I was sitting back listening to them, trying to keep up with the game, feeling completely overwhelmed. No amount of notes or research could have prepared me for this. I wanted to run for it. I could feel the panic rising, could hear the voice in my head saying I wasn’t cut out for it. But I remembered Parker. And how his dream was cut tragically short. If I didn’t sit up and take hold of my dream right in front of me, I would be doing his memory a disservice. So, I did. And I owned the next three quarters. It was far from perfect but I did it. And I loved every minute of it.
The game flew by – Owensboro ended up defeating Frederick Douglass 28-27 after the Broncos missed a 27-yard field goal with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Red Devils quarterback Gavin Wimsatt orchestrated one hell of a comeback, punctuated by a late touchdown by Ethan Avery to give them the one-point lead.
“Big-time players make big-time plays,” said Wimsatt after the game. “So, I was like ‘we gotta finish.’ We had enough time so I knew we could execute, so I was like ‘we gotta finish.’ I had faith in my guys.”
My broadcast buddies watched the team celebrate from the booth as I snuck down to the field to interview Wimsatt and Head Coach Jay Fallin and snap a picture of the team with the trophy – I couldn’t help it, it’s the reporter in me. I headed back to the Evansville airport with a full heart, not even upset that it looked like I would be missing the LSU-Florida game the next night due to flight issues. I spent the night on the floor at the airport, replaying the call in my head, reliving each moment. The guys promised they would get me a copy of it so I could see where I needed to improve.
I hopped a flight to Charlotte early Saturday morning, intending to continue on to San Francisco when a miracle happened – there was a flight to Jacksonville and a friend in Gainesville who would come pick me up (shout out Crissy Froyd). It honestly felt like Parker was watching over me, paving the way for me to pursue yet another dream – covering a game in the Swamp. And WHAT A GAME IT WAS. I know I picked LSU to win, but I had no idea the chaos that would ensue. The fog, the shoe, the unprecedented defensive effort by the young LSU players – it was a game that will go down in SEC history.
Some people may criticize me for traveling during a pandemic. Some people may say it was stupid to go across the country to call a game that nobody was paying me to call or cover a game that someone was barely paying me to cover. And maybe there is some truth to all of that. But what I know is that we aren’t given many chances in life to do the things we love; the things we feel in our bones we were born to do. So, I took a chance; maybe the last one I’ll get, maybe not.
We all have a Parker that we couldn’t save. But maybe that person ends up saving us – from not going after what we want, from leaving things unsaid, from giving up on people, intentions, ourselves. Check on your friends, bet on yourself – that’s how we keep those lost souls alive.
This season is dedicated to Parker. And the one after that. And the one after that. Until I’m holding that dream in my hand, it’s always going to be for him.
