Sports

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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

NFL

Carolina Panthers www.panthers.com

NBA

Charlotte Hornets www.nba.com/hornets

HOCKEY

Charlotte Checkers www.gocheckers.com

MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Charlotte Knights www.charlotteknights.com

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers www.milb.com/kannapolis

SOCCER

Charlotte Independence www.charlotteindependence.com

Wildcats’ Master of the Mic

David Gelinas and his love of broadcasting basketball

BY KAREL BOND LUCANDER

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.

Massachusetts natives David and his wife, Monica, are big sports fans who have followed the Boston Celtics, Patriots, Bruins and especially the Red Sox. But now these Davidson residents, whose two adult sons are living in Virginia and Tennessee, are also rooting fanatically for their black-and-red home team. Other family members are rooting from afar.

“My daughter-in-law has said, ‘that’s my father-in-law’s voice in the background!’” says Gelinas. “I never thought someone would be able to say, ‘I heard you on TV.’ When I first started doing this in the early ’80s in Montana, I never thought I would be doing this for a NCAA Division I program or in an NBA arena. I never imagined my stage would have grown as it has. I am honored that Davidson College has given me the privilege to do this.”

And for as long as they’ll have him, David Gelinas will continue to call it for the Wildcats. THE UNC-CHARLOTTE 49-ERS

FIREWORKS OVER A KANNAPOLIS CANNON BALLERS GAME.

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