Last night while watching Jonathan Quick make 25 saves in the LA Kings game seven win over the San Jose Sharks, I got to thinking who might be on Mount Rushmore of players whose games I have called and later when on to greatness in the pros. While I wasn't the full-time hockey announcer at UMass, I did fill-in on a couple of Quick's games during my time there. Quick led the Minutemen to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and win during his sophomore season and then signed with the Kings organization after spending just two years in college. Last season he LA to its first Stanley Cup and this season he has them in the Western Conference finals.
Another great young star is former Bronco football player Doug Martin. After a standout career with Boise State, Martin was chosen in the first round by Tampa Bay. He rushed for over 1400 yards and had nearly 500 yards in receiving. His over 1900 yards from scrimmage ranked second in Buccaneers history. He was a finalist for the NFL's rookie of the year and played in the Pro Bowl. Calling Doug's games, you could tell he was head for greatness as a pro.
The third player is someone who did it for a long-time…the Seattle Mariners Edgar Martinez. While you could see Martin would excel in the pros, I wasn't so sure about Edgar. For the two seasons I was the "voice" of the AA Chattanooga Lookouts, Martinez hit .258 and .264 in 1985 and 1986 as a thirdbaseman. He combined for 9 home runs total in those two seasons. In 1987, he was promoted to the AAA Calgary Cannons and hit over .300 for two and a half seasons in the Pacific Coast League. He finished the 1989 season in Seattle, hitting just .240 in 65 games, but came back to hit over .300 in his first full season in the majors and never looked back batting over .300 ten times in an 18 year career. Martinez was the 10th leading vote getter this year for the Hall of Fame. In Chattanooga, he was a quiet and professional player that you knew would be prepared every day.
I feel like I need a basketball player to round out my foursome. I've called basketball at three schools – Bucknell, UMass (Marcus Camby was there before I got there), and Boise State – and nobody has gone on to any amount of success in the NBA. So I am going to back to my college days when I called the University of Georgia women's basketball games for two seasons. Teresa Edwards was a two-time All-America and led the team to the championship game in our senior year. She went on to win four Olympic gold medals and has the distinction of being both the youngest and oldest to win a basketball gold. In 2011 she was inducted in to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Teresa was the best player on the floor and made others around her better.
When you announce college or minor league sports its a lot of fun trying to guess who might be successful at the next level. It is also interesting to see what happens to opponents. Two years ago, Paul George came out of Fresno State early and is now starring for the Indiana Pacers. This is something that coaches and general managers try to do all the time…project who will be good at the next level. Then there are others you think would make it but don't.
