Big league dream comes true
Tim Neverett had been disappointed so many times, he had all but given up on his dream of being an announcer in the major leagues.
The former Las Vegas Thunder hockey and Las Vegas Stars/51s baseball play-by-play man had come close before. He thought he would call games for the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders and Phoenix Coyotes. The Milwaukee Brewers were ready to hire him but went in a different direction.
But on Monday, the Pittsburgh Pirates hired Neverett, 42, to do play-by-play for radio and TV. He signed a three-year deal and will begin the job in February.
"The funny part was I was done applying for jobs in baseball because I had such a heartbreak with the Brewers," Neverett said Thursday from Denver, where he had been working as a radio talk-show host and also for FSN Rocky Mountain. "But I got a call after the season and was asked if I wanted to get involved in the process for the Pirates job. I sent them my stuff and never gave it a second thought."
In a matter of days, Neverett interviewed twice and was hired. The official announcement was made Thursday.
"Everything has happened so fast," said Neverett, who will continue to do Mountain West basketball games on Versus and the Mtn. "But it's always been my dream to be a major league baseball play-by-play announcer. I can't wait to get started."
Neverett joins former Las Vegas baseball broadcasters Ken Korach and Rich Waltz in the big leagues. Korach is the radio voice of the Oakland Athletics, and Waltz is the television voice of the Florida Marlins.
• BOWL BOOTY -- The college football bowl season kicks off Saturday. For each participating team, that means one more chance to get a win, one more chance to play on television, one more opportunity to travel.
It also means a chance to pick up cool free stuff without getting in trouble from the NCAA. Conferences in Bowl Championship Series games receive more than $17 million per participating school. There's also plenty of swag to be had. According to Sports Business Journal, here are a few examples of free stuff players get:
Sugar Bowl: Sony MP3 Walkman, Sony Blu-Ray player.
Rose Bowl: Sony DVD camcorder, one-year subscription to ESPN The Magazine.
FedEx BCS Championship Game: A $300 Sony Store credit, plus a Tourneau watch.
For Arizona and Brigham Young, who will square off Saturday in the Las Vegas Bowl, each player receives a Wii System bundle package.
• KID CREW -- On Saturday, ESPNU's commentator team will be one of the youngest in the history of the ESPN networks. Syracuse University student and ESPNU Campus Connection commentator Steve Andress will serve as the play-by-play announcer alongside college basketball analyst Jay Williams for the Miami (Ohio) at West Virginia game at 9 a.m.
Andress, 22, a senior broadcast journalism major from Philadelphia, is making his second appearance as an ESPNU Campus Connection commentator. His debut was this season during a Nov. 15 Syracuse-Connecticut football telecast on ESPNU.
COMPILED BY STEVE CARP LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
