Dream

I got the chance to live out a childhood dream this past weekend by doing a live TV and radio broadcast of a hockey game.

Since about 2002 I’ve been infatuated with hockey. Anyone that knows me knows that I wear the Redwing logo on my heart.

I remember a particularly life changing moment that got me on this long path. My first Redwings game was December 14, 2002.

I got in the car with my older brother and father. My brother, being an angsty teenager, could not understand why I had the right to go to a game. I remember him asking me if I knew a single player on the Red Wings. I didn’t.

It was an innocuous argument between young kids, but for whatever reason from that moment on, I made it my mission in life to know more about the sport than anyone.

No, I probably will never know what the professionals know. But I feel as though I have gained a skill from a silly boyhood squabble from the back seat of my Dad’s car.

Along the way, the Fox Sports Detroit team began to catch my ear. They got paid to talk about hockey, go to hockey games, and watch hockey.

Around that time, I discovered that hockey broadcasting was my life dream.

Since August, I’ve persistently pushed for my first shot at the open color commentary position.

It was a few text messages a week, and then once a day or so until I finally had the door opened.

I got my chance when radio and TV play-by-play analyst Dominic Hennig gave me my shot for the Oct. 25 series finale against Michigan Tech.

I’ve received positive feedback from family and friends to this point. I’m not sure how I felt about my performance, other than it was a load of fun.

The moral here is persistence. If you want your shot at something, you have to push. Sometimes you’ll push the wrong buttons or take a left turn.

All I know is that a lack of persistence wouldn’t have me where I am right now.

I may never get another chance to do what I did. But for the surreal three and a half hours that I had my chance, I enjoyed it.