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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Wednesday, August 30, 2006

UH football play-by-play radio announcer
Bobby Curran

Of all the sports, football requires the most preparation, says Bobby Curran.

GREGORY YAMAMOTO | The Honolulu Advertiser


Bobby Curran, who came to Hawai'i in 1983 to finish college, has been the radio voice of University of Hawai'i sports for 15 years. His job has taken him to outposts such as East Lansing, Mich., Eugene, Ore., Iowa City and Los Angeles (highlight), and Ruston, La. (lowlight). A one-time basketball player at William & Mary (leading scorer on JV as a freshman but "sat" on the varsity), Curran graduated from UH in English Literature in 1986. "College was the best damn 13 years of my life," he said.


Take us through your preparation for a game? Also, what's it like being able to travel the nation, covering UH football and other UH sports as the top sports radio talk show personality in the state?


"There's no work I can imagine enjoying more. A couple of minutes before kick-off or tip-off, the energy is up, I'm completely engaged and I think I'm the luckiest man in the world.

"Of all the sports, football requires the most preparation. Typically on a Monday, I begin reading the media guide (now limited to 208 pages). That gives you player bios, historical information about the school and program, and past records and individual honors. By Tuesday, I'll get a release from UH, the opponent and the WAC. That will have game summaries, injury reports and a depth chart. That provides information I use for the 'Call the Coach Show' on Tuesday nights. On Wednesday I'll have finished the media guide and will work on spotter boards. They will have the biographical and statistical information on every player likely to see action. The boards are completed by Thursday, leaving me to begin speaking with UH coaches, opposing coaches who are willing to talk as well as the beat writers and sportscasters. Friday and Saturday are spent memorizing names and numbers of skill players because there is no time during the game to look up numbers. It's time consuming but it's also a lot of fun.

"The best football memory was UH beating BYU (1989). At a coaches' show on Thursday I spoke with Paul Johnson (then UH offensive coordinator) and he said 'If they line up the way they've been lining up, it'll be ugly. We'll destory them.' I thought, 'Is he crazy?' We were 20-point underdogs." (UH won, 56-14)


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