Greetings readers,
Today I announced it. A death of an internet station. My home for broadcasting for under a year, where I was the play-by-play voice of several teams. I might have made it to your laptops, calling a goal, broadcasting a shot, announcing a foul. With trips to the penalty box, trips to the bench, and a trek that spanned most of the Miami Valley, I was the play-by-play man of the Ohio Sports Radio Network.
That station disappeared today. Most of the 93 games live on as an MP3 file on my external drive, hoping to catch an employer's ear and snag myself a full-time paying broadcasting job.
All that time, however, has not been wasted.
While it's true I was working free and continued to believe the hoax of actually receiving a paycheck, I became the voice of a professional hockey team in Dayton. A professional basketball team from Dayton that played in Troy. A college on the eastern portion of Greene County, just some 40 miles away from my home.
I spent 93 games behind the mic, mostly as a play-by-play commentator. I learned, I became polished, I grew stronger, and I learned even more what makes me a broadcaster. I learned a little bit about myself. I grew stronger. I improved.
So what makes this blog post a little bit extra painful? It's not the failure, I'm used to it (trust me, I am.) Is it the fact I no longer have a home to call a mixture of sports? No, I have a home with the Dayton Demonz. I also have a home as the P.A. guy for the Dayton Flyers, who have welcomed me with open arms (even though I'm a Wright State alumnus.) I also have my morning job at Ye Olde Lazarus and my job with the Dayton Dragons.
It's the work I put in. The work I put in, while believing I would be paid for it all, I feel is wasted. Granted, I know I said it helped me improved. I worked to improve on my weaknesses on air. I worked to make sure we were the best station in the Dayton area (considering the name was aiming to take over the Buckeye State.)
I feel more betrayed, actually. Maybe more fooled, actually. A bit stupid too, perhaps. I continued to believe the money promises, but you can't cash those at your local bank. Should I have pushed for money? Maybe, but I believed in carrying out the contracts we built up with the teams. I knew I had a job to do. It wasn't about the money, it was about the promises broken.
I also feel bad for the ones that helped OSRN out. How do I thank them? How do I thank the people who believe(d) in me to carry this station? I don't feel that a thank you over a shutting down note is the best way, but I in no way have the money promised to shell out. I just hope those helpers know how much I do appreciate their hard work. Thank you.
I don't want people to think I'm doing it for the money (because it's not about the money, it's about my passion.) Although I'm out a lot of money owed (I tallied $3,255, with each game at $35 and that's not including the General Manager money of $200 a week), I feel I failed the station. Did I want it to live on? Absolutely.
So what do I do now? I push on. I continue to rack up opportunities. I push on. I keep improving my game. Again, I push on. So to those who've stuck with me as a fellow commentator or as a listener, I say thank you. Thank you for the support.
Wow, that was a long post. That was a way to post on Blogger with my thoughts. This is a sentence. This is a way to end this post today.
Thank you for reading, folks. Next time explore what happens in the life of Lee W. Mowen.
I'm pushing on.
Until next time,
-Lee
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