Public Address at Volleyball

UT Horn Fan

500+ Posts
Does anyone know the name of the guy that does the public addressing at volleyball? He does a good job. The wife and I only know him as "sweatervest guy" since that is what he commonly wears.
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He does do a pretty good job. He is especially appreciated by those of us who endured the serial horrible PA announcers who tried to fill the shoes of "Mark the DJ from San Antonio," who left abruptly some years ago. Mark announced for both baseball and volleyball (not sure about any other sport). If you were around during the Demetria Sance era, you no doubt remember Mark's "KILL for Deeeeee!!" call. The atmosphere can still be quite exciting at Gregory, but Mark helped make it even more so.

Obviously personalities differ and we can't ask sweatervestguy to morph into something he's not, so I don't expect him to ever add the extra excitement that Mark did (and some fans didn't care for Mark's style). If you've attended big arena matches like the semi-finals and finals in San Antonio a few years ago and the AVCA showcase at Qwest in Omaha this past Labor Day weekend, however, you wonder why after several years sweatervestguy hasn't at least worked on being more informative. He should state why a point went to a particular team instead of just sometimes saying "kill by..." I don't think volleyball refs are going to wear microphones like football refs anytime soon, so the PA guy needs to state what the call was.

I'd like to see him change his routine after a Texas block to support the newish "Horns House!" tradition. He and the cheerleaders could cooperate to get the entire crowd in on it instead of just the students. By the time "Point Texas" is finished the peak of emotion after the roof is fading. Frequently the "Horns House" bit is being drowned out by the PA guy already announcing a substitution or the server's name after a side out. Make "Horns House" louder and more immediate and it could help make Gregory tougher on visiting teams. Assuming there isn't a rule against it, he could say "Texas BLOCK" instead of "Point Texas," and the cheerleaders could hold up signs for one side of the stadium to shout the "Whose House?" and the other side to answer. Having the fans echo "Point Texas" is far less meaningful than it was before rally scoring for all games was imposed; we could skip it after a block. Nebraska fans at Qwest didn't echo the point call, and they would yell a throaty "Roof, roof, roof!" after a block. I bet that's quite intimidating in Lincoln.

It's really pretty sad how the athletic department invests such little effort to improve the match experience for the fans, especially those with little experience watching volleyball. There is so much more that could be done.

Oh, BTW...no, I don't know his name. You could Email Chris Plonsky and ask her.
 

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