The voice(s) of Mountain Brook Football
The press box at Spartan Stadium was renamed for two former public address announcers of Mountain Brook High School football in 2010, the same year Perry White took over the microphone. One was his friend and immediate predecessor, Craig Tindall, who held the post for 17 years. The other, Bill Bolen, was the first Friday night emcee the stadium ever had.
So, White was sliding into big shoes when he spoke his first words to Mountain Brook’s football faithful. But in the past two years, he’s filled them with ease, and now he’s thinking he can hold this post just as long – or longer – than the respected men who haunt his mic most autumn weekends.
“There is a plaque in the press box with their names as well as an empty slot or two,” White said. “Coach Cooper said I had to be there at least 15 years to get my name on the plaque. But the only way I will leave is if Mal Moore calls, and even then I think I could juggle Fridays in Mountain Brook and Saturdays in Tuscaloosa.”
White, senior vice president at Johnson Development and father of three, said Tindall decided to retire in 2010 and asked him then if he would step in. He started doing games with Tindall at the beginning of the season and took over full time near the end. He takes his duties seriously, investing time during the week prior to the game to contact visiting coaches. At least an hour before each game, he collects probable starters, talks to referees and ensures he has proper pronunciations for the names of visiting players.
“Nothing gets a momma in the press box faster than mispronouncing her child’s name,” White said.
In addition, White is responsible for collecting and relaying announcements over the loudspeaker. These include anything from items about local athletics and community events to connecting lost keys with owners or lost kids with parents. He said he scripts out the entire game starting from “Welcome to Spartan Stadium” till “Good Night.”
Overall, being Mountain Brook’s public address announcer isn’t an easy task, but it certainly helps that White’s Friday nights are full of friends. He shares his press box cubicle with five other men who give time to Spartan football and all love every minute of it.
“I just call the kids’ names on Friday night,” White said. “Our press box crew is a whole group of people crammed into a fairly small space. Everyone has a specific job and we work really well together and have a blast.”
The 2012 booth crew consists of White, Charles Branch, Brian Lucas, Glenn Donald, Matt Moore and David Lyon. They sit shoulder-to-shoulder on Fridays, each responsible for one or more aspects of the stadium experience fans may not even realize are taking place.
It starts with Branch in the left corner of the box. As statistician, he keeps White straight on down and distance and supplies the halftime and end-of-game stats to announce. On White’s right is Lucas, who runs the scoreboard. Lucas keeps up with down, distance, time-outs and score.
Donald is responsible for keeping up with the 25-second play clock, and Lyon is primary spotter for the crew, calling out to White the offensive player with the ball and defensive player making the tackle. Moore is another spotter who doubles as a jack-of-all-trades. Besides helping with pronunciation, he fills in anytime there’s a vacancy in the box.
White said on any given play, spotters call out the offensive and defensive players involved. That’s followed by Branch giving him the yardage. White’s job is to translate that into something like, “26 Gene Bromberg the ball carrier, tackled by number 98 Joe Smith. Play gains 5 yards. Brings up 2 and 5 for the Spartans.”
“It is by no means rocket science, but it takes a certain rhythm to get it right,” White said.
They all work for nothing more than the love of Spartan football. Well that, and the promise of snacks.
“Oatmeal cookies, a Chick-fil-A sandwich and Friday night football,” Lucas said. “There really is nothing better.”