Announcing the Games

I have the unique privilege of announcing local High School basketball over the public address system in the gymnasium. It is a joy to announce starting line-ups, what player is subbing into the game for whom, who made the shot, who fouled whom, who called time out and for how long, who will be presenting the half-time show, and the list goes on and on. The players and coaches have come to refer to the announcing as their 'home court advantage', since few others of the schools with which we compete provide full game coverage. They also fairly beam when it is their name announced for contributing in a particular way to the flow of the game. "'Calvin Haynes (fictional) for tttthhhrrreeeee . . . and the bruise."

Announcing the games also keeps me from verbally, often quite verbally, assisting the game officials with their calling of the game from the bleachers of the gymnasium. Though nearly always polite, "Are you calling the same game we are watching, sir?" "Would you like for me to schedule your next eye appointment, sir?" "Did you have any idea you were officiating a basketball game and not a boxing match when you arrived, sir?" I confess I do have a tendency to push the envelope of what is socially acceptable at High School basketball games.

Though in my heart of hearts the officials at these games are really silently grateful for the direction which I personally offer in the heat of the contest, I do understand that my example opens the door for everyone else in the gym to be equally polite and helpful, as well, and that just would be too much for any official to bear. So, I have learned to curb my comments by announcing the game, instead of being an amateur official. This allows me to focus on highlighting the positive contributions of the players without having the latitude or appropriate platform to offer constructive criticism to the officials. Oddly enough, my own parishioners have embraced my announcing the games with more enthusiasm than I anticipated - mostly, I think, because now they don't have to explain to their friends and acquaintences that, 'The lunatic in the third row is our pastor, and he is not really like that, but there is something about an orange ball bouncing on the floor and a whistle being blown that unleashs the radical in him.'

Maybe this is what local churches need to do with the folks in the pews who never see the good the pastor or the church is doing in the community: give them a microphone and make them do play by play. Put them on the floor of the contest, in the midst of every coaching decision, living in the sweat of hard work, in the gray-areas of decisions which might determine the outcome of the game. Let them sit at the scorer's table, hearing every taunt the opposing players and their fans have to offer the home team and the officials. Make them say with equal support and joy the names of their opposition as they are brought into the game - and announce their successes in the course of the game in the same manner as they announce the home team's successes. Have them make announcements for upcoming games and assist with arranging for everyone who has a 'special project' to have time to enlist the public's support between quarters and at halftime. Have them do the paperwork which is required to facilitate announcing all of the work of the team and the school in a smooth and concise manner. And, let them do all of that work, and be 'on call' for special events which inevitably occur throughout the year for which an announcer is needed, for free, volunteering their time while others are paid for doing less.

Though most, I suspect, would beg off doing it, citing their 'Moses-like affliction' of being unable to speak to large crowds without stuttering, the few who would accept the challenge might find themselves - and their appreciation for the church - tranformed. Who knows, they might even make the acquaintence of an 'official' or two that, in the past they criticized, and now in a new light, consider becoming at one with them (atonement?), even enlisting in the ranks of leadership?! Only God knows if such a plan might work.

For this avid (rabid?) fan turned announcer, I can only testify to how it has changed my appreciation for the abilities . . . and sometimes inabilities . . . of those who choose to enter the contest and be a part of the game. I am privileged to have a place in the game (in so many ways) and I am even more privileged to announce the places and contributions others make to the game as they exemplify the gifts God places within them to steward. Where are you in the game?

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don