Sports Spectators Welcome! Check out these other area sports teams COLLEGIATE SPORTS Davidson College Wildcats www.davidsonwildcats.com UNC Charlotte 49ers www.charlotte-49ers.com ----------------------------------RACING NASCAR www.nascar.com
Wildcats’ Master of the Mic David Gelinas and his love of broadcasting basketball BY KAREL BOND LUCANDER
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Great Lake Living at Lake Norman
Since fall 2010, when David Gelinas began announcing for Davidson Wildcats men’s basketball, he’s covered every home game. He watched while the campus court was named for Coach Bob McKillop, saw great young talent De’Mon Brooks, Jake Cohen, Jack Gibbs, Kellan Grady and others ignite the team, and felt the buzz as NBA two-time MVP and Davidson’s all-time leading scorer Stephen Curry returned to John Belk Arena. “Whenever Steph Curry comes back to visit, the student section gets stirred up,” he says. Broadcasting games for decades Gelinas recently retired after nearly 12 years as senior associate dean and director of financial aid at Davidson College. For 40 years, he worked in financial aid at colleges and universities from Michigan to Montana to Tennessee.
And for almost as long, he’s also been broadcasting play-by-plays for their sports teams. As he says, if he’s doing it right, we don’t notice the man behind the mic. “If nobody is talking about what I did at the end of the game, I did it correctly,” he says. “I added to the occasion without calling attention to myself.” Being personable, evaluating nuances of the game, putting moments into context – Gelinas brings it all courtside with his smooth, booming voice. To prepare for every game, he says he researches how to pronounce the names of all the players for the opposing teams and does vocal warmups, including musical scales up and down and blowing bubbles with his lips to loosen things up. A Product of Lake Norman CURRENTS Magazine 2022-2023
